Why are we so fearful?

Remember the story of how there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat aganist the ship. The disciples were frightened, but Jesus was a sleep in the boat. They awakened him. He arose and calmed the sea.

“And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

 So why are we so fearful? I think that we fear most of the time because of the unknown, because we lack knowledge

A long time ago in grade school one of my teachers told us that it was not necessary in life to know the answer to everything. The thing that was of far more importance was knowing where to find the answer. That has stuck with me and I have always tried to find someone who does know or find a manual or some other resource with the answer to the problem at hand. With faith and knowledge I have overcome many things. One of the most important manuals I have studied is the scriptures, conferences talks, and other inspired talks.  

That is what the disciples did. They asked Jesus who did know how to calm the sea. I doubt that any of us while in this life will ever know all the answers, but resources are available to almost everyone to find the answers we need. Whatever our humble circumstances we can all pray with real intent, seeking God’s will – not ours. I call it the Santa Clause syndrome when we go to Heavenly Father in prayer with our gift list. I want my neighbor to understand what they are doing is wrong, I want a car that works, I want money, I want, I want… and I want it today.

Knowing that Jesus is the Christ is not enough. We must apply our faith to calm the seas in our life. The scriptures tell us that if we have the faith of a mustard seed that faith will grow to help us through the storms of life. It is not necessarily easy, but we do have resources.