by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Two incidents involving Jesus and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee during rough weather are illustrative of how faith can be reinforced.<\/p>\n
The disciples were scared out of their wits by the violence of the storm that appeared to threaten their boat-and their lives. But it only appeared to threaten. With Jesus on board, there was no need to panic.<\/p>\n
Wakening Jesus, they cried, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?<\/em>” (Mark 4:38).<\/p>\n Were they perishing? No. Did Jesus not care? Of course, He cared-enough to still the storm and then ask, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?<\/em>“<\/p>\n Their problem was not the storm, as they had thought, but a weak faith.<\/p>\n “And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’<\/em>” (Mark 4:41).<\/p>\n No longer did they fear the storm-it was over. This is a vastly different kind of fear-overwhelming awe in view of the absolute power of the Christ, so far above and beyond limited human comprehension.<\/p>\n Same sea, same Jesus, and evidently the same disciples. Once more, the sea is tossed by the wind, and during the night, they see someone walking on the water! Frightened by what they thought was a ghost, they were calmed by the familiar voice, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid<\/em>” (Matthew 14:27).<\/p>\n Then follows Peter’s request to walk on the water, which Jesus granted. But fearful of the wind, he sank and cried out, “Lord, save me!<\/em>“–and this too Jesus granted.<\/p>\n When the two climbed back into the boat (Peter wet, Jesus dry), “the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’<\/em>“<\/p>\n Evidently, both of these water miracles were designed to bolster the disciples’ faith in Christ, and it did.<\/p>\n In the first instance, they asked, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?<\/em>” In the second incident, they answer their own question,\u00a0“Truly you are the Son of God<\/em>.”<\/p>\n During this time in my life as my soul is tossed about with great concerns and fears, how I need to hear again what Jesus said on these two occasions–first to all the disciples on board, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?<\/em>” (Mark 4:40), and to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?<\/em>“<\/p>\n Fear versus faith.<\/p>\n In view of who He is and what He can do, why am I afraid? Why do I doubt?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Two incidents involving Jesus and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee during rough weather are illustrative of how faith can be reinforced. Stilling the storm The disciples were scared out of their wits by the violence of the storm that appeared to threaten their boat-and their lives. But it only appeared…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1791,352],"class_list":["post-90350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-care","tag-fear"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89934,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/changes-in-the-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":0},"title":"Changes in the Storm","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles Box This lesson requires us to answer the question, \"Exactly what is a miracle?\" The term \"Miracle\" is used far too loosely and frequently in our society. \"A miracle is a divine operation that transcends what is normally perceived as natural law; it cannot be explained upon any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/stormy-300x188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/trusting-god-through-the-storms\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":1},"title":"Trusting God Through the Storms","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Storms can be frightening. Lightning and thunder can be a bit terrifying when it gets close. Flood waters can overwhelm, winds can level, and human beings can only run and hide. We sometimes wonder why, but we are reminded that we are not the ones who control\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/storm-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":48132,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/one-of-those-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":2},"title":"One of Those Days","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 14:1-36 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is easy to get a distorted view of time while reading the Bible \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We see the highlights over a 4,000+ year period of time and come away thinking that miracles and exciting events happened constantly \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But sometime we read the events in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90178,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-anchor\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":3},"title":"Our Anchor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores When the waves won't listen and the sky won't clear, faith becomes the anchor that holds. Acts 27 has Paul in a dangerous storm at sea along with 275 other people. The great difference is that while the majority of the other passengers were scared witless, Paul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-to-walk-on-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":4},"title":"Faith to Walk on Water","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clint Gann via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 1, 31 March 1992 Over 75 percent of the Earth's surface is composed of water. One of the first things God did in the creation was to separate land and water (Genesis 1:9). After man was placed on earth, God often used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rich-young-ruler\/","url_meta":{"origin":90350,"position":5},"title":"Rich Young Ruler","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong I find it interesting to see the list of commandments that Jesus quoted to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:19: \"You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Walking on the water<\/h2>\n
The lesson for us<\/h2>\n