How Can I Stop Having Fear and Anxiety?

Introduction

As you might remember, before we started our Advent preaching series at the beginning of December, we were working through the gospel according to Mark. And as we start off this new year, we’ll continue working through Mark, section by section, to better understand and appreciate the life and ministry of Jesus. Keep in mind, here, God gave us this part of the Bible through one of Jesus’s early followers – through a man named John Mark – or just Mark for short. And from the beginning of this book, he’s been making the case that Jesus is the Christ – the chosen king of the Jews – and that he’s also the divine Son of God. And over and over in these early chapters, Mark has laid out evidence to back up his statement. He’s shown us how Jesus has unique authority to heal the sick, to cast out demons (and to strike fear into them!), to give official interpretations of God’s law, to forgive sins, and to call followers into his service. And in our text this morning, we continue to see evidence if Jesus’s divine identity and authority.

So if you haven’t already, please turn with me to Mark, Chapter 4. I’ll be reading verses 35 through 41 in just a moment. But before I read our text, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]

How Will You Respond When Trials Come?

As people enter a new year, it’s not uncommon for them to feel some degree of anxiety or fear. For some people, it’s because they’re afraid that they won’t be able to keep their New Year Resolutions – like “exercise every day,” or “spend less time with my electronic devices,” or “save more money out of my paycheck.” For other people, there’s social anxiety – because they’ve just been reading Christmas cards from friends and family members, that describe all the amazing things that happened in 2025. And so some people feel pressure to fill 2026 with all kinds of happy memories and experiences, so that they can make posts on social media and send out Christmas cards that are equally impressive. But then there are other people who become anxious when they enter a new year, because it’s filled with unknowns. Will this be the last year we have with Grandma Smith? Will this be a year that has some sort of tragic car accident? Will this be the a year when fighting breaks out, and we’re plunged into World War III? Feeling fear about the New Year is a real thing.

In fact, this fear affects enough people, it even has an official name – it’s called neoannophobia. Neo, meaning new – anno, meaning year, and phobia meaning fear. Neoannophobia. Now, I have no way of knowing how many of you are nervous about the start of a new year. But even if it isn’t the start of a new year that causes you to feel anxiety or unrest, my guess is that we’re all tempted to be fearful of something – whether that’s the loss of a job, the loss of health, the loss of a loved one – the world is filled with uncertainty. Life often brings us ruinous trials. And so the question isn’t so much whether or not you’re ever unsettled – but the question is what will you do when those feelings of fear and worry come? How will you respond when you’re faced with tragedies and dangers and trials? What will you do?

Well, in our text this morning, Jesus and his disciples – his followers – they enter into a disturbing, near-death experience. The disciples, in particular – they’re terrified. But Jesus confronts his disciples – he challenges them on how they’ve reacted. Their response isn’t appropriate. And through this text, Jesus is also challenging us – he’s pressing us to consider what we fear, and how we deal with those feelings of anxiety when they arise. So with God’s help, here’s the main point that I’m hoping to explain this morning: Our thoughts and actions should be driven, not by earthly fears, but by confidence in Jesus’s authority.

And to develop this big idea, there are four key insights that I want to show you from our text. First, the things we fear often arrive unexpectedly. Second, the things we fear expose our unbelief. Third, the things we fear are under Jesus’s control. And then fourth and finally, the fear of Christ drives out all other fears. So these four key insights will be my four main points this morning. The things we fear often arrive unexpectedly, they expose our unbelief, they are under Jesus’s control. And then, the fear of Christ drives out all other fears.

The Things We Fear Often Arrive Unexpectedly

So the first thing we’ll see here is that the things we fear often arrive unexpectedly.

Just to jog your memory a bit, earlier in Chapter 4, in the section right before this – Jesus has just been beside the sea, surrounded by great crowds of people. And he’s been teaching them. He’s been telling them parables about the kingdom of God. And even though the meaning of the parables is left pretty unclear for most people in the crowd, we’ve seen that Jesus has pulled his disciples aside. And he’s been explaining for them what these parables mean, how they describe the future glory and growth of God’s people – the growth of God’s kingdom.

For Jesus’s disciples, who were Jews – this would have been really encouraging. Because for generations, the Jewish people, who had been set apart to belong to God, who been entrusted with His Word – they hadn’t experienced much growth or glory. But in recent years, they’d been trampled underfoot by the Roman Empire. At times, it was hard to believe that God would really come through for them. But now, here, Jesus has just gotten done confirming that the long-term trajectory, and the ultimate destination, of God’s kingdom will involve growth and glory. This is the sort of thing that would have fired the disciples up. This is good news. At the end of the ball game, we’re going to come through with a win.

And it’s in this moment, as the disciples have warm hearts, and good feelings – this is when Jesus makes a simple request, in verse 35. “On that day, when evening had come, he [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” He’s saying, Let’s get into our boat, and travel to the other side of the sea that we’re by – the sea of Galilee. This wouldn’t have been a strange thing for Jesus to ask. He and his disciples had crossed the sea many times before, a distance of 10 miles or so. And as long as they had a good breeze, it wasn’t a long trip – just a few hours.

And so Jesus and his disciples leave the crowd, as we see in verse 36. They set off in their boat – with a couple other boats coming along, too. But as evening is setting in – it’s dark out, and the boat is far off from shore – we’re told that a windstorm arises. There’s no indication that there was rain or lightning or anything like that. It wasn’t necessarily that type of storm. If it had been, the disciples who were experienced fisherman probably would have noticed clouds in the distance and advised staying off the sea. But this seems to have just been wind – a sudden, terrible shift in the wind, with gusts of 40 mph or more – perhaps kind of like the windstorms that passed through Michigan early last week. It was dangerous. “A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.”

And so you have to understand what this turn of events would have been like for the disciples. Just an hour or two earlier, they were cheerfully whistling away, probably imagining what the greatness of God’s kingdom was going to look like. This was just going to be a routine little journey with their boat. But – Boom! – all of a sudden something dreadful happens. There’s an unexpected trial that threatens to utterly extinguish the joy of life. Their future appears to be ruined. But it all happened so fast. They didn’t even see it coming.

And this is often what happens to us. The trials of life (and the temptations to be fearful) – they come without warning. And it’s not uncommon for these situations or seasons of hardship to come right after encouraging faith-building experiences. So when there’s a sudden turn-around, similar to what the disciples faced – we’re usually not really expecting it. We’re often not prepared for it. And I’m not just saying that we aren’t prepared, as in we don’t have our generator ready when the power goes out. But what I mean is that we aren’t usually prepared mentally and spiritually. Instead of responding to unexpected hardships with steady peace, contentment, and faith in Christ, we often get caught on our heels. And we respond with self-pity, or we get angry, or we begin to fear.

The Things We Fear Expose Our Unbelief

And this brings me to my second key insight from the text: the things we fear expose our unbelief. Just notice how this happens with Jesus’s disciples, here. The arrival of this raging windstorm – it reveals what they really think about Jesus. Their view of him is very low. And we can see this in a few different ways.

As the ship fills with water, in verse 38, the disciples notice that Jesus is in the stern, asleep! Just, resting on the cushion there. And so the disciples wake him. Now, if we didn’t already know what was coming, we might think that the decision to go and wake Jesus up is an act of faith. But when they shake Jesus awake, it isn’t to affirm how much they trust him. Instead, they wake him to ask him a question: “Teacher – do you not care that we are perishing?” It might seem like an innocent enough question. But it actually displays the unbelief of Jesus’s disciples in a number of different ways.

For one thing, Mark tells us that Jesus’s disciples don’t believe in Jesus’s full identity. They simply address him as their “Teacher.” Now, in itself – the title isn’t wrong. After all, Jesus was their teacher. But by this point, the disciples should know that Jesus is more than that. They’ve seen evidence that Jesus is the chosen king of God’s people and the divinely powerful Son of God. And yet, the disciples struggle to understand and accept the significance of his full identity. Even today, people like you and I might be affected by this type of unbelief. We might like Jesus. We might be willing to accept that he was a great teacher, and that he had good ideas. But that’s not going far enough. We need to accept who Jesus actually is – based on who he reveals himself to be through his works and through His Word.

But we can also see the disciples’ unbelief, in that they don’t believe in Jesus’s saving power. Granted, some disciples may have had more confidence in Jesus than others. When this same event is described in Matthew’s gospel account, at least some of the disciples were asking Jesus to save them. But even so, this request seems to be driven more by desperation than out of real trust that Jesus can do something.

And so as they wake Jesus up, it’s not so much to declare their rock-solid faith as much as it is to express their fear and unbelief. In fact, to some degree, they seem to be waking Jesus up out of spite. I’m not sure if you can relate to this at all. But if you’ve ever had a really bad headache, it can sometimes be really aggravating to be around people who are feeling fine. Or if you’ve ever had a lot of clean-up to do around the house, and you’ve come across your spouse or one of your children, just sitting on the couch, reading a book or relaxing somehow, it can be tempting to feel some jealousy or bitterness. Because you’d like to be able to relax like that. Well, the disciples may have felt this way toward Jesus. Here they are, pulling their hair out, doing all they can to prevent the boat from flipping upside down in the middle of the storm – and Jesus is just snuggled up with his pillow, taking a nap. It seems the disciples couldn’t stand it! If they couldn’t sleep, Jesus wasn’t going to sleep either! If they were going to be miserable, they wanted Jesus to feel their misery with them. And so they wake him up.

And even though they wake Jesus up with a question – it’s really more like an accusation. Because they’re saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Essentially, they’re criticizing Jesus. Even though they’ve just called Jesus their teacher, they’re basically saying, “Jesus, we need to teach you something.” You need to care about what’s going on here. You haven’t been concerned enough. You haven’t been involved enough. Jesus, do you even care about what we’re going through?

And so what we end up seeing, here, is that this windstorm exposes how the disciples don’t believe in Jesus’s goodness. Because, think about it, when our daily work seems successful, when we have plenty of food and fun, when life is relatively painless, we really aren’t tempted to accuse Jesus like this. Because based on what we see, physically, with our eyes – life looks good. But when Jesus leads us into circumstances that we don’t like – when the waves are crashing into the boat, when our body starts to fall apart, when our money runs out, when depression comes – that’s when we accuse him. That’s when we’re tempted to doubt that God is good, or that God even exists.

And so we ask – we accuse Jesus: Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Because we can no longer see how these kinds of events could produce good. It just seems like meaningless suffering. Way too quickly, we jump to the conclusion that if we can’t see how something is good, then it can’t be good. If we can’t figure out a solution to our problem, there must be no solution.

And this is the downward spiral of unbelief that we see in the disciples, here. They assume that Jesus isn’t involved – that he doesn’t care – and that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. The disciples are ultimately controlled by fear, rather than being confident through faith in Jesus. And this is why, in verse 40, Jesus asks his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus indicates that the reason why the fear of his disciples was so strong, is because their faith was so weak. And the reason why their hardship seemed so massive is because their perception of God’s greatness was so limited.

The Things We Fear Are Under Jesus’s Control

But in this event, we’re given a pretty compelling reason why we shouldn’t be crippled by fear and doubt – even when we’re faced with things that are life-threatening. And that’s because the things we fear are under Jesus’s control. This is my third main point from the text. (The things we fear are under Jesus’s control.)

After the disciples shake Jesus awake, in their unbelief and despair – Jesus does something that nobody expects him to do. In verse 39, we’re told that Jesus “awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

It’s pretty amazing – even after 2,000 years, people still can’t even consistently predict what the weather is going to be, let alone control it. But here, Jesus does something that no human being has ever been able to do. Based on what Jesus does here, it’s actually intended to be some pretty compelling proof that he’s divine – that he’s the eternal, all-powerful Son of God.

Because when God created the universe, and brought it into order over the span of six days – he did it by speaking. And how does Jesus calm the storm here? The same way! Just by speaking. There’s no special dance, no magic powder – Jesus simply speaks, and the forces of nature are brought to their knees. The world recognizes the voice of its Maker – the voice of its Master – and so when Jesus says Peace, there’s peace! And when Jesus tells the waters to be still, it’s not just that the wind goes away, and the water gradually settles back into stillness – but immediately, the water becomes as smooth as glass. Jesus speaks with divine authority. His word is powerful, and it does not fail – it doesn’t ever fail, to accomplish Jesus’s purposes.

Now, some people might argue that Jesus is just functioning as a prophet here. They might claim that Jesus wasn’t actually divine, but he was just doing miracles on God’s behalf, kind of like Moses or Elijah. But if you go back and read about Moses and Elijah – it’s clearly recorded that God is sending them instructions along the way. And often when they’re performing certain signs and wonders, they’re calling out to God, and asking him to do the miracle.

But Jesus is different. He takes action, here, by his own authority. He isn’t praying to God, requesting an end to the storm – but he, himself, speaks as God. In fact, the thing that Jesus does here, in calming the storm – it matches the description of what the LORD God is said to do in Psalm 107, verses 23-30. Listen to what Psalm 107 says:

“Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.”

By calming the storm, Jesus proves that he’s the LORD of Psalm 107. He really has charge – not only of the wind and waves – but over every molecule, every man and woman, every mountain. Everything, including the things we fear, are under Jesus’s control.

And I want to press in on this, because I want to make sure it’s clear – I think some people might read this story, and they might think that the storm was just wildly thrashing the boats around in a random, uncontrolled sort of way. And then Jesus woke up, and he brought the wind and waves under his control. But that’s actually not right. When Jesus calmed the storm, he wasn’t gaining control over a storm that had gotten out of hand – but he was actually giving proof that the wind and the sea had been under his power all along. In Psalm 107, which I just read, it didn’t just say the LORD calmed the storm – that he’s just the Lord over gentle oceans. But he’s also the one who “commanded and raised the stormy wind” in the first place. The LORD is in charge at all times, over all of it.

We see another example of this in the way God deals with Jonah, in the Old Testament. The prophet Jonah is running away from the work God has called him to do. And Jonah tries to get away from the LORD by sailing away on a boat. But the LORD raises a terrible storm – and he uses it to get Jonah’s attention, and to help get him back on track. And often, that’s how the Lord Jesus uses stormy seasons for us, too. He gives his people wake-up calls, he leads us into repentance, he refines our character. And he reveals his glory to us. Jesus isn’t absent when the storm comes. He hasn’t forgotten you. He isn’t abandoning you. But Jesus is the Master, over every calm sea, yes, but also over every minute of every storm.

And so – be encouraged – this means that none of the storms are meaningless! There’s a divine plan that directs them all. Of course, it’s true that the trials we face tend to come to us through crooks and heretics – through invisible demons and other agents of evil. And yet even then, the darkness they can spread and the damage they can inflict, it’s all constrained under the mighty hand of Jesus.

This gives us hope in whatever types of danger or suffering we might face. Even when the Master-surgeon’s scalpel cuts us, it’s for healing – not for harm. Every trial comes from a God in heaven who’s working all things for the everlasting good of his people. We might not be able to see the good in it – not for a long time. But we just have to recognize, the Lord is smarter than we are. And when we fight to hold on to that confidence, that all our concerns and all the chaos is being managed by him, that’s what’ll make it possible for us to rest peacefully during our storms – just like Jesus sleeping on his cushion.

When it comes to Jesus’s authority, his power isn’t just limited over the realm of human emotions, or ideas – or things that are kind of vaguely spiritual or mystical. But Jesus really is the Lord over the natural world, too, with all its details. And he proves this to us, not just through the sunny days he brings, but also as he leads us through churning whirlpools in the darkness. We really can trust him, body and soul, in illness and in full strength, with our finances, with our family, and with our future.

The Fear of Christ Drives Out All Other Fears

And when we trust Christ like this – when we have eyes that can rightly perceive his great authority and goodness – then we won’t be bent out of shape when the next windstorm rolls in. Because the fear of Christ drives out all other fears. This is my last and final point. The fear of Christ drives out all other fears.

After Jesus calms the storm, he asks his disciples about the wrong fear that they had: “Why are you afraid?” Why are you so timid and cowardly – “have you still no faith?” “Do you still not believe who I am?” That’s essentially what Jesus is saying here. Because he knows – if his disciples recognized who he was, and if they regarded him with the right level of respect and awe, then they wouldn’t be afraid of storms. They wouldn’t be afraid of big waves and sinking boats. They wouldn’t be afraid of death. Because they’d see that all these things are small and momentary compared to the everlasting authority of Christ. Mark wants us to have eyes to see this: the thing we should actually fear – the great power we should ultimately tremble before, is the power of Jesus.

The disciples begin to reach this point by the end of our story, in verse 41. We’re told that Jesus’s followers “were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Of course, you can catch in that question that they still haven’t really figured out the full significance of who Jesus is. But one thing they do realize is that he’s much greater in power and significance than any storm.

And this needs to hit home for us. For Christians, who say that they believe in Jesus – it isn’t appropriate, that we’d go through life being timid and anxious people. If you’re being guarded by a lion, it doesn’t make sense that you’d run away when you’re being threatened by a mouse. We should be people who have our eyes fixed on the greatness of Jesus. Of course, sometimes that’ll be hard. Sometimes you might need to speak out loud, to remind yourself about Jesus’s loyalty to you. You may need to find a faithful brother or sister who can lead you to Christ when all you can see is darkness. But here’s the point. Rather than being terrified by your dilemma, make the choice to tremble before Jesus’s infinite power instead. The more clearly you’re able to see the heights of Jesus’s authority and goodness, the less you’ll be anxious and overwhelmed by the wind and waves.

I’m not sure if you’ve considered this before – but when you have the right type of fear for Jesus, it’ll actually make you braver. When you and I know Jesus as the mighty Savior and Conqueror, who overcomes Satan and our sin to give us peace with God – it sets us free from every other fear. Fearing and revering Jesus will bring comfort, like nothing else.

Now, if you’re not a Christian, though – if you’re not trusting in Jesus, then please understand – this text doesn’t have words of comfort for you. Because if you’re still pushing Jesus away, or ignoring him, or playing games with him – then Jesus’s great power won’t arrive to calm your storm, or to save you – but by his great power, he’ll judge you for your hardness of heart, and your refusal to believe. So please, admit that Jesus is who he said he is. Admit that you need his saving power, to rescue you from the sinking ship of your self-reliance and sin.

But if you are a Christian this morning, then there are words of comfort for you here. And in fact, the comfort that this text brings, it’s so strong, and it’s so real, it shouldn’t be considered normal or okay for Christians to be controlled by fear, like these disciples were. Christians shouldn’t be timid people. The voice that silences thunder, and that extinguishes burning stars is the same voice that speaks from heaven, to intercede for us – to speak for our benefit and blessing.

And so whenever disaster strikes, and you’re tempted to be anxious, as a Christian, it doesn’t make sense that you’d put up a white flag of surrender. We have such a great general – why would we allow our worries to win the battle? You must not forget the limitless power of Jesus! The one who stands with you – the one who’s in your boat with you – will not let you sink. Now I’m aware, in certain rare cases, medication may be helpful for treating anxiety issues. But I really am convinced that for many people, our anxiety problems aren’t biological. They’re spiritual. Society has lost ground in the battle against fear and anxiety, because we’ve lost sight of the glory of Jesus.

So if we’re going to follow Jesus, rightly, an important part of our discipleship is to know Jesus. It seems so simple – but we really need to know, we really need to be convinced, that we can go out into the world, and we can face persecution, and pain, and job loss, and surgery, and every other type of trial – we can face it all, because Jesus has authority. And ultimately, he uses that authority, for the good of his people. He governs all things perfectly, tirelessly, to grow His church, and to guarantee our eternal security. So no matter what storm you encounter, fear and revere Jesus. That’s the fear that drives out all other fears. Let’s pray: