One of the ways that fear gets to us is that it makes us take our eyes off of what really matters.  Fear has a way of making us look down, not look up. When we look down, we are filled with worry and anxiety about our circumstance, our struggles, all the things that can weigh us down.  Fear makes us look down.  Hope makes us look up.

We see this played out today in Mark 4:38-41:

38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The disciples, many of whom are fishermen, look down in the midst of a real storm.  These guys had been in real storms before.  A storm is nothing uncommon for them.  So, they were used to this happening.

That tells you how big the storm must have been.  They are terrified.  They go to Jesus and say, do you know care if we die?

And Jesus speaks calms to the storm. The wind and the waves cease.  Calm is restored.  All is well.  Now the disciples are in awe.  But not at the might of storm.

They are in awe of the might of their savior.

That’s what happens when we look up.  We are reminded that, yes, the storm we face may be big. It may be tough.  It may be something that we cannot handle. But when we look up, we are reminded that no matter how big the storm is, our God is bigger.

Today, don’t look down at your fears.  Look at your savior.  When we do that, we find our hearts moving from fear to peace.

Today, look up. Set your hearts upon Christ. Find His calm. We will be reminded that no matter how big the storm is, our God is bigger.

Look up.

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