Mark 4:40 – He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (ESV, biblegateway.com)
Mark, Chapter 4 opens with the preeminent parable of the Sower. Jesus uses the parable to teach the “very large crowd” and then tells his disciples what the parable means (v1). Mark’s version of the Sower parable ends in verse 34.
Mark follows this with the story of Jesus rebuking the wind while He and His disciples were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee (v36-41). During a “great windstorm,” water entered the boat, causing the disciples to fear for their lives (v37). During this crisis, Jesus was sleeping, so the disciples woke Him up and asked Him if He cared about their lives.
In response, Jesus stated to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” (v39). He then asked the disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
This passage teaches us to remain calm amid life’s storms, knowing that our God is sovereign over all things. He alone can command the storms to stop.
Fear is a natural response to life’s storms, challenges, and difficulties. Faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God is the supernatural response. Faith is developed over time with practice. The challenges of our lives could be God’s way of forcing us to practice our faith in Him.
As warriors for His Kingdom, our goal is to meet life’s challenges with supernatural faith, not natural fear. Ask God to fill you with the faith needed to be the man He created you to be, and when you find yourself in a fear-inducing situation, praise God for allowing you to grow your faith (James 1:2-4, ESV, biblegateway.com).