Why Are Ye So Fearful?

In the Come, Follow Me lesson this week it reads, “In Mark 4:35–41, you will find four questions. List each one, and ponder what it teaches you about facing life’s challenges with faith in Jesus Christ.” These are the four questions that we find in those verses: 

1.      “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”

2.      “Why are ye so fearful?”

3.      “how is it that ye have no faith?”

4.      “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The first was spoken by the group in the boat who worried that they were going to drown in the sea in the storm. They couldn’t understand how the Savior could sleep while they were toiling against the storm and water was filling the boat. Surely this is a question that in one way or another we all have occasion to ask as we or our loved ones struggle and we wonder where He is to help us. As Joseph Smith put it in Liberty Jail, “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?” These questions from the fishermen and from Joseph Smith teaches us that part of faith is indeed facing circumstances that we don’t want to and trusting when we think He should intervene and He doesn’t. Surely the Master always does care when we feel that we are perishing, but He sees the end from the beginning and knows when it will be best to come to our aid.

               The first question of the Savior was surely a puzzling one to them as He said, “Why are ye so fearful?” Perhaps they were thinking, “What do you mean? The boat was filled with water and we were about to drown! Of course we were afraid!” But the Savior expected them and expects us to trust that even if we can’t see Him—or if He appears to be “sleeping” from our perspective—He is in control and we can trust Him. His second question was related and surely pierced them in their hearts: “How is it that ye have no faith?” To them it was perfectly logical to be afraid and to worry about their survival in that storm, but they forgot it seems that the Son of God was in the boat with them. In our trials we often worry in the same way, forgetting that He has promised to be with us always. When we wonder how things can possibly work out, we might listen for the still small voice to question us as well, “How is it that ye have no faith?” We can learn to exercise our faith in Him especially when we can’t see our way through the storm, knowing that He is the Master of all the elements.

The final question that the people in the boat asked reminds us to remember and reflect on the miracles that He does provide in our lives. When things work out despite all odds, when our petitions to Him are granted, when we see His hand in our lives, we too should said, ““What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They clearly recorded the event—or else we wouldn’t have it today—and we too should remember and reverence how we see His hand blessing us and our families. Surely that is a key to strengthening faith as we see Him in control of those things that we personally can’t control.