Why Are You So Afraid?

This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin, and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's Word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life all in for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. Well, you know, about a year ago, I was on a flight headed overseas, and I was on one of those airplanes that for whatever reason started shaking uncontrollably. I don't know if you've ever been on a flight like that, but it's when the pilot came on the loudspeaker and said, ladies and gentlemen, we're approaching a storm system, and we're expecting a little turbulence. Well, let me just tell you something about that little turbulence. That was the little turbulence that kind of makes you rethink every decision that you've ever made in your life. Anybody ever been on that airplane before? Here's the scene. The plane that we're on is flying just peacefully and calmly, but then all of a sudden, for whatever reason, it just drops, and it drops hard.

And people were gasping, and a few people shouted, and drinks were going airborne, and people were praying. I'm pretty sure the dude next to me gave his life to Jesus twice, all right? And so that is the scene. And as all of this is happening, I'm looking to my left and right. I'm watching everybody to see how they're responding, and I notice right across the aisle from me is a little girl. She's probably seven years old. And she's sitting right across from me beside her father. And while the rest of the plane is filled with people that are freaking out, and everybody is so worried, this little girl just leans up against her dad, swinging her feet completely relaxed like she was on a church pew with a coloring book. And I can remember kind of assessing that scene and looking over at her in that moment and thinking to myself, that right there is a beautiful picture of faith. Because I knew in that moment she didn't understand the storm. She didn't understand what turbulence was or understand why people were going crazy and throwing things and saying things. She didn't know what the pilots were doing in the cockpit, but she did know her father. And that was enough for her. Church, here's the message.

You ready? What if we trusted our heavenly father like that? What if when life drops out from under us and the winds of worry pick up and when fear starts to shake us up, what if we leaned into Jesus with that same sense of calm, that same sense of confidence, and that same sense of trust? See, that's the heart of the question that we're gonna unpack today in Mark chapter four. And so with that picture in mind, I wanted to just invite you to join me as we step into a storm with the disciples of Jesus. And we're gonna listen as Jesus is gonna ask those boys a question in a boat. And this is what he's going to ask in verse 40. Jesus says, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? You know, Jesus asked over 300 questions in the gospels. 300 questions. Not because he needed information, but because he knew we needed transformation. And that's what we've seen over the past several weeks as we've walked through this series, questions Jesus asks. You see, every question that he asked is meant to reveal something to us, to grow something in us, and to change something about us. So when Jesus asked his disciples,

why are you so afraid? Understand, he already knew the answer to the question. And when you're sitting there today and Jesus is asking you that same question, why are you so afraid? Get this. He already knows the answer to the question. He's not trying to gather data. He's just inviting you and I into a deeper level of trust. That's true today. He wants us to trust him more. But you know what? That was also true 2,000 years ago as Jesus and the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee. So before we step into this scene, I want us to take a moment to just understand the context of where Jesus was and what was taking place before all of this even happened. You see, Mark chapter four takes place after a long, draining day of ministry on the Sea of Galilee teaching crowds so large that Jesus had to preach from a boat just to create enough space for everyone to hear him and see him. The disciples at that point had heard every parable. They had watched every single needy person in that region. Impress into Jesus with great needs Then he had they had experienced a full weight of a full day of non-stop ministry from probably sun up to sundown But by evening, we know that everybody there was tired So keeping that in mind, let's walk into this scene together beginning here in verse 35

It says on that day when evening had come he told them let us cross over to the other side Hey right away, I want to point something out about this scripture that they really jumped off the page at me this week I probably read this this passage of scripture hundreds of times in my life But this time one certain thing jumped off and that was right here in this passage And that thing is that this storm that they experienced that day didn't hit Because the disciples were out of God's will Did you notice that? It didn't happen because they were out of God's will in fact the storm hit because they obeyed Jesus a Lot of times we walk through storms in this life and we think God's punishing us or God is mad at us Like why do I have to experience this hard time or why do I have to experience this difficult season? And we think we must be out of the will of God. We must have done something completely wrong But you don't see that in this passage. Why do they experience a storm in this passage? Not because they were disobeying Jesus it was because they were obeying Jesus do you get it? Listen, sometimes following Jesus leads you directly into situations that are going to stretch your faith And not because he wants to scare you but because he wants to shape you He allows us to walk through certain things because he's developing our faith So the disciples step into this boat because Jesus said step into the boat We're going to the other side and in this moment, they're tired they're probably ready to rest after a full day of ministry and yet in that moment look at what verse 37 says a Great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking over the boat so that the boat was already being swamped Now this wasn't a little ripple of water In fact, we know that because Mark uses this Greek word Megas to describe it Megas M E G A S. It's where we get our English word mega mega So if you're reading this in context according to the original language, they were experiencing a mega storm This storm was hurricane level It was terrifying the kind of storm that fishermen would talk about for years and years After the storm hit and here's the fascinating thing about this right four of these disciples were professional fishermen

You've got Peter and Andrew and James and John these men grew up on that water They knew the Sea of Galilee like the back of their hands So when if these guys are panicking what that tells me is this is a really really bad storm. It was a mega storm and Yet when you keep on reading it's almost comical when you get to verse 38 because you've got all these guys scared And then verse 38 says but Jesus was in the stern Sleeping on the cushion Like seriously Jesus, right? I Mean how how tired does somebody have to be to sleep through a storm like that where your boat is literally being baptized every three seconds With waves of water in this mega storm. I mean think about this scene The disciples are screaming the winds are howling water was flying and Jesus Passed out like a teenager on Saturday morning Just out cold and church. Don't miss a symbolism here. I think there's an important message for us here today What that tells me is what terrifies you? Doesn't trouble Jesus You think about all the craziness and all the chaos in your life. Listen, what wakes you up at night doesn't worry him at all See in this story. Jesus is asleep And a lot of people read that and they think why I mean How could he be asleep when his disciples are walking through something? So scary, but get this he's asleep not because he doesn't care He's asleep because he's still in complete control Even while he was asleep. He was in complete control And yet the disciples didn't get that so it says they shake him awake and they shout a question That sounds familiar to probably all of us who've walked through a scary season in our life before They said to him in verse 38 teacher, don't you care that we're going to die? I mean you can almost hear the the desperation in their voices This wasn't a polite Sunday school prayer to Jesus. This was a raw Human honest cry out to the Son of God kind of prayer. They were desperate in that moment They were terrified in this scene and yet Jesus calmly without Panic in his voice without any hurry

He stands up what wipes the sleep out of his eyes in this waterlogged boat and he speaks to the storm Like it was a child throwing a temper tantrum And what does he say? Look at verse 39. He said silence be still and Instantly the Bible says in verse 39 the wind ceased and there was a great calm Hey, don't don't misunderstand what this says In one moment there was chaos in the next moment. It was calm But here's the part. I want to point out today after calming the storm around them Jesus turns his focus to his disciples and he addresses the storm within them and he asked them two questions He said number one. Why are you so afraid? But then number two, he says do you still have no faith? I Believe this is where Jesus puts his finger on the real issue In fact, I'd say this teaching moment that he's about to have was the entire purpose of the entire storm Because the truth is right here. Jesus isn't scolding them for being scared Understand he's not mad at them or scolding them for being afraid fear is the natural response Fear is a part of being human all of us have moments of fear So he's not scolding them for being scared of the storm, but what he is doing is he's inviting them to consider something He's inviting them to consider why fear was winning in their life While they were in the very presence of the one who commands the waves Why would you be afraid now? Knowing that you're right beside me Hey, I believe this is a message for every single one of us today And I believe there are four things in this passage that we need to take to heart Beginning with number one fear rises when we forget who's in the boat Fear rises in your heart and in your life when you forget who's in the boat Maybe you're a person here today. You say man Jordan I'm naturally prone to fear and you're wondering today Like why am I so afraid of this or why am I so fearful of that? And here's what I want you to see from the jump Your fear whether you like it or not is

connected to your faith Your fear is connected to your faith. And you know what fear always grows where faith gets blurry When your faith starts to get blurry your fear will be defined even greater The disciples weren't worried weren't worried about the storm They weren't they weren't wrong about what was happening around them. The waves really were big that day The the wind really was strong that day The danger really was real that day their problem wasn't misreading the storm. Their problem was misplacing their focus They were focused on the wrong things See some somewhere between the shore and the center of the sea there was a there was a Misunderstanding and they they forgot who climbed into the boat with them They took their eyes off of the Savior and they put their eyes on the storm They forgot that Jesus was in the boat. And let me just say personally, isn't that just like us today? I mean when life gets hard when the diagnosis drops When the bank starts to dry up When the relationship starts to break when we turn on the news and the reports are starting to blindside us I mean, that's what tends to happen with us, isn't it? Our eyes shift from the Savior in which we have faith in and we believe in we're no longer looking at him though Now we shift our eyes to the storm and all of a sudden fear starts to take the place of the faith that used to live there church hear this today Faith doesn't mean you you you don't face storms faith means you don't face them alone Listen, the storms are gonna continue to come But the question is will you have faith when they do? Remember that little girl in the airplane Hey, she wasn't calm because all of a sudden she understood turbulence or the percentage chance of everything being okay No, she was calm because she trusted the one she was sitting beside And in that same way listen your confidence in the storm has nothing to do with the size of the storm But it has everything to do with the size of your Savior Let me ask you are you looking at him? Are you looking at it? Are you looking at the storm? Are you looking at the Savior?

Look at number one. What does it say fear rises when we forget who's in the boat? Let me give you number two Fear also rains when we assume Jesus isn't responding Fear rains in your life when you believe that Jesus Isn't paying attention in this story. Jesus didn't stop loving them in the storm Jesus didn't leave them in the storm. Jesus didn't lose control in the storm He said simply knew something that they didn't know. And what he knew was this storm isn't going to sink you because the Son of God is with you. And sometimes we need to be reminded of that very same thing. This storm is not going to sink you because the Son of God is with you. Fear reigns when we assume Jesus isn't responding, when we assume Jesus is asleep at the wheel. Let me give you the third one today. You ready? Number three is fear retreats when we remember His power. You want fear to retreat in your life, yes or no? You like living in fear or you want it to leave? Well, here's how you can get it to go. You got to remember the power of Jesus Christ. You must be reminded that the power of Christ is greater than any power in this world. You see, after Jesus calmed the storm, Mark tells us something that I find very interesting in verse 41. Here's the scene. You ready? Jesus said, There's silence, but the very next thing you read is they were terrified. So He does this incredible miracle, silence, the waves are still, and it says that the disciples were terrified. In fact, when you look at that word terrified, it's that same mega word before terrified. So they were mega terrified. They were very, very afraid.

So that's the picture. The storm had been violent. It had been unpredictable. It had been truly life-threatening. But Mark says that the storm wasn't what shook the disciples the most. I mean, they were afraid of that first, yes, but the greatest fear, the mega fear that they experienced in this scene was because of Jesus. Not because they were startled or easily spooked. These guys were grown men. They were fishermen. They had spent their entire life on this water. They had seen storms before, but they had never seen what they saw in Jesus that day. See, what terrified them in that moment was the fact that in one single sentence, they saw Jesus more clearly than they had ever seen Him before. They believed in Him. They believed He was the Messiah. They had seen Him do incredible things before, but in that moment, what they experienced deepened their faith to a whole different level. That's why they looked at one another in this scene. And they said, soaking wet and hearts pounding, they whispered in verse 41, who then is this? Look at that question. Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obeys Him. You can almost hear the tremble in their voices because this wasn't the kind of miracle that you could chalk up to timing or coincidence. This wasn't anything that they had seen before. This wasn't just healing a sick person or multiplying bread

or even casting a demon out of a person. This was Jesus speaking to a storm. And when He did, they experienced all creation bowing down to Him like He was speaking to a trained animal. You have to remember, these were Jewish men, men who grew up in school reading the Old Testament. They had heard the stories. They had read the Psalms. They knew the scriptures, and they knew that only God rules the seas. Only God can calm the chaos. Only God can command the boundaries of the waters and make the waters move. So when Jesus stood up in that moment, just a second after being sound asleep, and He calmed a violent storm with three quiet words, everything sort of clicked for these guys. And they knew without a shadow of a doubt who they were dealing with. And that realization hit them harder than any of the waves that had crashed into their boat. In one single moment, they knew, we have no reason to be afraid. We have no reason to fear drowning anymore. We shouldn't be afraid of that next gust of wind any longer. They were wrestling with the fact that the one standing in front of them had authority over every single thing that they had ever feared in their entire life. And that kind of clarity was overwhelming

because they knew the storms on the Sea of Galilee didn't calm like that. Normally, even after the winds stopped, the waters would keep churning. It took time for the waves to settle on the Sea of Galilee. That lake didn't go from chaos to calm in one single moment. But in that moment when Jesus spoke, it did. It doesn't say that there was a slow fading, no gradual stillness. That word describes instant peace. One second, there was chaos. The next second, silence. And the disciples just sat there, dripping and speechless, staring at him, asking the only question that made sense to ask. They said, who then is this? Who then is this? And that's the point I believe Mark wants us to see. The purpose of this storm wasn't simply to show the disciples what Jesus could do. The purpose of the storm was to show the disciples clearly who Jesus really was. Sometimes Jesus calms the storm not to make you more comfortable, but to let you see him more clearly. Have you ever thought about that? Anybody walk through a storm like that? Walk through a season like that? Where Jesus revealed his power to you? He revealed his authority to you? He reminded you that he can do things that other people can't do? Has anybody ever experienced that? Just raise your hand if you have.

Look all around the room. Listen, I can say that in my own life. When the doctors say one thing and Jesus says something else, you ever have that moment where you're thankful that Jesus is in charge and they aren't? When all I could see was loss and yet Jesus redirected my focus to what was gain? Those moments of desperation where you're like, there is not a path forward and yet God shows you, I've got a plan that's even better than what you thought? Listen, if you trace the storms in your life long enough, they all tend to bring you back to the same question the disciples were asking. The question is, who then is this? He's different. Who then is this Jesus that sickness obeys? Who then is this Jesus that demons flee from? Who then is this Jesus that death cannot hold? Who then is this Jesus that silenced the storms? Let me just show you something that's pretty cool. When you begin to answer that question in your own life, fear begins to loosen its grip. When you identify the Jesus in your story, fear loses its grip. When you remember who he is, worry loses its voice. The things the devil is saying in your heart, guess what? Those things are gone. Fear retreats when Jesus is revealed. The question is, are you looking for him? Are you looking for Jesus in the midst of the storm? Let me give you one more and that is this, faith rises when we trust who's in the boat. You got to trust him. You've got to trust Jesus in the midst of the storm. When the disciples saw Jesus for who he really was, something shifted in the story. The storm outside of them was quieted, but now Jesus is looking at the storm inside of them.

That's why all of the chaos was happening. That's why after all the chaos was settled, he turns to them and he asked that question. He looks them in the eyes and he says, why are you so afraid? Think about this personally. Imagine Jesus looking at you and asking you that question today. Why are you so afraid? Now I know what you're going through. I know what you're thinking. I know what you're approaching. I can see the red light. I can see the taillights, but why are you so afraid? He said, do you still have no faith? No, he's not scolding them. He's not disappointed in them in that moment. He's not saying, guys, what's wrong with you? It's more like he's saying this. He's saying, after everything that you've seen, after everything that you've watched me do, how can you still be looking at that as if it's bigger than me? Do you still think the storm is bigger than I am? Listen, I see this question as a gentle invitation to trust. Think about it. He's inviting us to trust him on a whole different level because faith isn't pretending that storms don't exist. Faith isn't ignoring fear or faking it until you make it. Get this. Faith is remembering who's in your boat and he's saying, you don't have to fear that because I'm with you. Faith is leaning into the presence of Jesus in the way that a little girl was leaning into her father. Not because she all of a sudden understood everything, but because she trusted him.

Maybe that's the question that Jesus is asking you today, not to shame you, not to make you feel bad about your fears, but to draw you closer to him. He's asking you, why are you so afraid? Not how dare you be afraid, but what are you looking at that has become bigger to you than me? Let me say that again. What are you looking at that has become bigger to you than God? Do you still have no faith? In other words, I believe Jesus is asking all of us, will you trust me today? Even now, even with what you're walking through, even with what you're facing, will you trust me even in this? Because the truth is, storms are going to come, storms are going to go, but Jesus remains. Hey, storms shake you up, but Jesus is the only one that can actually hold you up. So you've got to ask the question, am I going to trust him or not? I think that's it. It's the invitation of this story. It's really the invitation of every storm that we walk through. Jesus is inviting us to stop staring at the wind and start remembering the one who commands it. Stop looking at that, start looking at me. Listen, I don't know who I'm speaking to today, but I just wonder if someone here today feels like those disciples. You're caught in something that you can't control. You're scared by something that you can't fix. You're overwhelmed by something that you didn't see coming. Maybe you're here today and you say, Jordan, man, the waves are really high. The wind is really strong.

And my faith feels very small. And maybe anxiety has been really loud or maybe fear has been winning in your life, but hear me today, you're not alone. Anybody need to hear that today? You're not alone. You're not sinking because Jesus is in your boat. And the same voice that calmed the Sea of Galilee is a voice today that can calm your heart. The same power that stopped a storm in its tracks and the winds disappeared in an instant, I believe that is the same power that can change your life if you'll trust it. And the question that Jesus asked them is a question that he's asking us. Why are you so afraid? Not to condemn you, but to comfort you, to call you closer and to remind us all of who he is. Because when you know who's in your boat, check this out, fear loses its voice, faith rises again. And you realize I can make it to the other side, not because the storm is getting smaller, but because my savior is even bigger, amen. Isaiah 41 10 says, do not fear, why? For I am with you. Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand. Listen, today there may be somebody that says,

I need to sacrifice my fear and I need to trust the Lord. I need to sacrifice my fear on the altar of faith and I need to make a personal decision that I'm not leaving this place the same way I walked in. I'm gonna trust him, not just in a moment. That word trust, the word trust we see in scripture in Psalm 56, go ahead and put that up there. Psalm 56 verse three says, when I'm afraid, I will trust in you. That word trust means trusting, keep on trusting. Now I'm not, Jesus, I trust you in this moment, in this service, as long as I'm at church, but I will trust you, but I'll keep on trusting you. But no one else can make that decision for you. This is a personal decision that can turn into a personal declaration that could change everything. Do we have fear? Yes or no? Yeah, we do. How do we respond to that fear? We can tell our God how big our fear is or we can tell our fear how big our God is. Which one will you choose today? When I'm afraid, I will trust in you. One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the promise that we never have to carry the weight of life on our own. In Philippians 4, 6, the Apostle Paul writes these words, do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Hey, what an incredible invitation. God doesn't tell us to ignore our worries. He tells us to bring our worries to Him. That's why the All In Prayer Ministry exists. Our team prays faithfully and intentionally over the needs of people just like you. Needs for healing, direction, restoration, salvation and peace and so on. Listen, no matter what you're facing right now, you're not alone. We would be honored to stand with you and to lift your needs before the Lord. If you have a prayer request, big or small, I wanna encourage you to take just a moment right now and follow the instructions on the screen and share with us your prayer need. And I promise you this, our team will pray for you by name. Believing that God hears you, God loves you and God is already at work in your situation. So don't carry that burden by yourself. Let us pray with you and let us pray for you. We're all in and we're here for you. Hey, we never wanna end our broadcast without giving you the opportunity. to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and want to know more about what it looks like

to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away. Today we celebrate your decision and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all in with Jesus Christ. This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ.