God did not send Jesus to earth to start a new religion. God was looking and longing for relationships. You matter to God. He knows your name! Jesus wants to walk with you, today and every day. Jesus did that, physically, with the disciples. He wants to do that, spiritually, with each of us who believe.
When it’s “Jesus and Me,” there should be no fears that haunt us, but in our humanness, we still allow fears to cause us problems. Amazingly, the disciples, according to today’s scripture, had the same struggles with fear. They physically walked with the Son of God, yet when faced with a storm, they feared the worst! The disciples did, finally, do the right thing and went to Jesus with their fears. Jesus spoke to their fears: “Quiet! Be Still!”
We must realize that Jesus wants us to trust Him with our fears. The storm was not going to destroy the disciples and our storms won’t destroy us! Will they cause us to fear? Fear is a response which we can allow or dismiss! Sometimes we must fight the temptation to fear with repeated scriptures and prayer, but we can defeat it! When fear starts “calling your name,” repeat Jesus’ words that He spoke in our printed key verse for today: "Quiet! Be still!"
Jesus is saying it in your heart; you say it with your lips.
Jesus spoke to the storm that was causing the disciples to be afraid. Jesus asked what probably seemed like a silly question: Why are you so afraid? That seems like a reasonable question to us as we read this story in Mark’s gospel. We look at it and think: “These disciples had the Son of God on board. Did they really believe the ship would sink? Did they really fear for their lives when Jesus was among them?”
Now, if we believe that Jesus lives in us and is for us—loves us and is closer than a brother—why do we fear? I believe that the devil’s most subtle attack, on Christ followers especially, is fear. Look at the last time you felt like you failed the Lord. Examine the reasons for that failure and you’ll probably find fear at the heart of the matter! Jesus is asking you and me: Why do we fear? Jesus is right here; just as real as He was with the disciples. Psalm 46 reminds us: “Be still and know that I am God,” the Psalmist David wrote!
When fear strikes at your heart, take that fear to Jesus and then “be still.” Remember Psalm 46:11 is true: “The Lord Almighty is with us.” No matter what you are facing, there really is no reason for fear. We must learn to do what Jesus did: Speak to our fears! Bring scripture to mind and refuse to allow the devil’s lies to be the dominant voice in your head! You have the power to say, with Jesus, “Be still!”
This power and privilege is ours because of the victory won on Easter. That power that raised Jesus from the dead, is the same power that God has made available to you and me:
“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 1: 19-20, NLT).
The evil one cannot take this power from us, but he is good at distracting us and getting us so focused on our problems that we forget to claim our power that God has made available to us!
Easter 2023 is over, but the wonderful victory and blessings that Jesus purchased for us is still available today! Join me in resisting the lies and distractions of the evil one, demanding that he gets behind us and we march forward to our victory in Jesus!
Pastor Ben Walls