Why Are You Afraid?

Last week, we looked at God’s question to Adam, “Who told you that you were naked?” We saw that shame did not come from God’s voice, but from listening to the wrong voice. God came not to condemn Adam and Eve, but to call them out of hiding and cover them with grace.

Today, as we come to the final question in this series on God’s questions, I want to turn to the one that feels most relevant to me personally:

“Why are you afraid?”

According to national mental health data, about 19% of American adults experience an anxiety disorder in a given year, and about 31% experience one at some point in life. Women report anxiety disorders more often than men, and younger adults report higher rates than older adults.

And that is only diagnosed anxiety disorders.

When we look more broadly at anxiety symptoms, the picture becomes even wider. In 2022, about one in five U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety in the previous two weeks. Among adults ages 18 to 29, the number was higher than in older age groups, and symptoms were also higher among women than men (Terlizzi et al., 2024). 

We usually assume anxiety will decrease when life gets better. If we have more money, a better job, more education, more freedom, more opportunity, and more control over our lives, we imagine we will finally be less afraid. But there is a paradox.

 The United States is one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world. It is almost synonymous with freedom and opportunity. So why are so many people here plagued with anxiety?

Recent global data gives us a complicated picture. One study of 204 countries found that anxiety-disorder prevalence was positively associated with social development, including income, education, and fertility patterns. Anxiety was also associated with GDP per capita, access to electricity, clean drinking water, literacy, and urbanization (Javaid et al., 2023). But that does not mean development itself causes anxiety. The same study cautions that international anxiety comparisons are shaped by culture, diagnostic criteria, reporting, documentation, access to care, and how different societies understand mental illness.

Still, the pattern raises an important question: why does anxiety become so visible in societies with more choices, more control, and more opportunity? 

And into that anxious world, Jesus asks: “Why are you afraid?”

Some people on social media, and even some sermons, repeat the claim that the Bible says “Do not be afraid” or “Do not fear” 365 times, one for each day of the year. But that claim is not accurate. The exact number depends on the translation and on which related phrases we include. A more careful count puts it at about 100 to 110 verses. Even so, the point remains: God speaks to us repeatedly not to fear, far more often than we can ignore. 

But then what makes us fear? 

Let’s go to Mark:

Mark 4: 35 – 41 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”  And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.  A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 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?” And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?”

Many times, religious people assume that if we obey God’s commands, we will not experience anxiety. But in this account, the disciples entered the storm because they obeyed Jesus. Jesus is the one who said, “Let us go across to the other side.” Sometimes the presence of fear in our lives does not mean we are outside the will of God. Sometimes the storm comes while we are doing exactly what Jesus asked us to do.

Many of the men in that boat were experienced fishermen who knew the sea. So if they were afraid, this was not an ordinary storm. They must have been battling it for a while: rowing, shouting, trying to steady the boat, perhaps desperately throwing water back into the sea as more waves crashed in.

And in the middle of all that chaos, Mark gives us one painful detail: Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

Isn’t that detail difficult? The disciples are struggling. The other boats following Jesus are also caught in the storm. Everyone is fighting to survive. And Jesus is sleeping on a cushion.

How many times have we felt that? I am struggling so hard, but God seems silent. I am trying to survive, but God seems asleep. Does He see me? Does He know what is happening? Does He care that I am here?

So they woke Him up and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

That is one of the most honest prayers in the Bible. It is not polished, and there is no religious language. It is direct. When the water is rising, the question buried inside us comes out: Don’t You care?

Notice what fear does. The disciples could have said, “The boat is sinking. Please do something.” Instead, they begin to interpret Jesus. The storm outside becomes a question about the heart of God.

Psychologically, anxiety works by prediction. The mind sees a threat and immediately tries to complete the story: “This will get worse. I will not survive this. No one will help me. I am alone.” Anxiety is not content to say, “There is water in the boat.” It says, “We are going to die.” Then it goes further: “If Jesus cared, He would not be sleeping.”

So anxiety does two things at once. It magnifies the danger, and then it explains God through the danger.

That is why anxiety feels so convincing. It does not feel like imagination. It feels like insight. It feels like we are finally seeing the truth. But often anxiety does not reveal truth. It creates a narrative from fear. It takes partial evidence and builds a total conclusion.

The disciples have real evidence. The storm is real. The waves are real. The boat is filling. Jesus is asleep. But from those real facts, they reach a deeper conclusion: Jesus does not care. That is the theological leap fear makes. It moves from circumstance to character. From “Jesus is asleep” to “Jesus is indifferent.” From “God has not acted yet” to “God does not care.”

That is why fear is spiritually dangerous. Fear can become a false prophet. It preaches a sermon about God before God has spoken. It tells us what God is like based on what the storm feels like. And the message is usually the same: God is absent. God is late. God is passive. God is not concerned. God cannot be trusted.

But Jesus interrupts that faulty narrative.

As soon as the disciples say, “Do You not care that we are perishing?”, Jesus gets up and speaks to the wind and the sea: “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceases, and the sea becomes calm.

Only after calming the storm does Jesus turn to them and ask, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

That order matters. Grace comes before correction. Salvation comes before transformation. Jesus does not ask the question from a distance while they are drowning. He asks it after He has already shown them who He is.

So what kind of question is this? Is Jesus asking them not to feel emotion? No. He is not saying they should never experience fear. Is He saying the storm was not dangerous? No. He is not denying the storm.

Jesus is questioning the story fear has built around the storm. He is asking: What has your fear made you believe about Me?

So what are we actually afraid of?

On the surface, our fears look different: sickness, failure, money, children, death, rejection, and the future. But underneath, many of our anxieties gather around three deeper fears.

The first is the fear that I am not safe. That is the obvious fear in the boat. The storm is real. The waves are crashing. The boat is filling. The disciples are asking, “Will we survive this?”

The second is the fear that I am not seen. That is the painful detail of Jesus sleeping. They are struggling, but He seems silent. How often have we felt that? God, do You see what I am carrying? Do You know how tired I am?

The third is the fear that I am not loved. That is the question beneath their question: “Do You not care?” They are not only asking whether Jesus has power. They are asking whether Jesus has concern.

So in that one boat, we see the three fears beneath anxiety:

• Am I safe?
• Am I seen?
• Am I loved?

And Jesus answers all three, not with an explanation, but with Himself. He is with them in the boat. He rises for them in the storm. He saves them before correcting them. Grace moves first.

So when Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid?”, He is not rejecting fearful people. He is inviting fearful people to look again. You are not as unsafe as fear says. You are not as unseen as anxiety says. You are not as unloved as the storm has made you believe.

But Mark does not end by saying the disciples had no more fear. That would have been a simple ending. The storm stops, everyone relaxes, and the story is over.

But that is not what Mark says.

After Jesus calms the storm, the disciples are filled with great fear and say to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

So the story does not move from fear to no fear. It moves from fear of the storm to awe before Christ.

That is the movement of faith. Faith does not always mean fear disappears. It means fear is relocated. Before, the storm was large and Jesus seemed small. Now the storm is silent, and Jesus is overwhelming.

Maybe that is what Jesus wants to do in us. Not simply remove every frightening thing from life, but reorder what we fear. We begin by fearing what can happen to us. But grace invites us to stand in awe of the One who is with us.

The disciples thought the question was, “Will we survive this storm?” But Jesus reveals the deeper question: “Who is in the boat with you?”

Because if Jesus is in the boat, the storm may be real, but it is not ultimate. The danger may be real, but it does not get the final word. God’s silence may feel painful, but His silence is not His absence. His rest is not His indifference. His timing is not His neglect.

So when Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid?”, He is not asking us to pretend there is no storm. He is inviting us to see Him again.

The question is not only, “What are you afraid of?”

The deeper question is, “Who is with you?”

Personally, I fear many things. I fear for my health. I fear for my finances. I fear for my immigration. I fear for my child’s future. And sometimes fear does not come politely. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, worrying, with my mind racing and my heart pounding.

In those moments, I am learning to kneel down and fight fear, not by pretending the storm is not real, but by bringing the storm before Christ. Sometimes I find peace. Sometimes I find only silence. But I am learning that silence does not mean God does not care. It does not mean Jesus has left the boat. It does not mean He is indifferent. It may simply mean that I am still learning to trust His presence before I understand His timing.

So maybe the final question in this series is not only, “Why are you afraid?”

Maybe it is also, “What has your fear made you believe about God, and can you let Jesus tell you the truth again?”

Discussion questions

1. What fear in your life most often makes you wonder whether God sees you or cares? 
2. What would change if you believed that God’s silence is not His absence, and His timing is not His neglect?

David: That was a wonderful ending to a wonderful series of talks. The question, “Why are you afraid?” seems very interesting to me. Is Jesus saying there’s no need to be afraid, or is He saying, “There are lots of reasons to be afraid, and maybe you’ve chosen the wrong one”? I did some quick research, and apparently there are over 350 references (depending on the translation) in the Bible to fearing the Lord or fearing God. So one reason to be afraid is because the Bible tells you to be afraid! But what was Jesus really asking? And should we be afraid of God?

C-J: I find that my anxiety gets raised when I listen to an old narrative in my head out of my experience, as Kiran alluded to. Is it that my experience is warning me? But when I think about my relationship with God, I think those are pivotal times in my life—to walk through that fear, to realize God is in the room, that what I am not equipped with, God will make provision for.

God gives us something that goes beyond confidence. God is always growing us into being adults, where you remember what you’re equipped with, you know what skills are required to use those tools, and you have a history—either personally, through other people you know, or through the Bible—that reaffirms that you don’t have to see around the corner. All you have to do is take one step. And if you have a question, pause. Either God is speaking to you, or you need to rethink where you are.

So I think those anxiety moments are critical to us growing, like a seed breaking open the ground. It’s time to be transformed into something else. God is saying, “I need you to do this,” and even though I hate that feeling of, “I don’t know what to do. I can’t. If this goes sideways, I’m going to have a bigger problem,” I’m getting better at saying, “God’s timing is perfect. Just watch what’s unfolding, and when it’s time for you to move, you will know it.”

I don’t always make good decisions. I get it wrong—all those things that the people in the boat did. “Don’t You see me? Do You realize I could die here? Don’t You care?” I don’t get to the point of, “Don’t You care?” It’s more like, “Help,” like you said, Kiran.

I do have to say, “Lord, I lay this at Your feet because I am powerless. You know what Your intention is for me. I ask that You open my eyes of understanding and help me receive whatever You are doing in terms of wisdom, opportunity, and the people who will get me to where I need to be so I can stabilize emotionally.”

Once I start that process in my head, it dissipates. It’s sort of like blowing up that picture of old narratives, and I remember God’s Word, my experience with God, and what makes people cling to faith—not in terms of, “I do believe, I do believe,” but with confidence that You will reveal to me what I need and give me the understanding to act appropriately.

Don: I don’t know, Kiran, if everybody in the world has fear. Is this something that’s personality-based? There are people who have more fears than others, and there are some who are fearless. Is it a question of having the right neurotransmitters in your brain, or is this something that has to do with your relationship with God? Is fear something that is spiritual and needs a spiritual solution, or does it need medication?

Kiran: I don’t know, but there are definitely some people who need medication. I wouldn’t say you can overcome all these things just by having stronger spiritual faith. But for people in the middle of the bell curve, just because you believe in God doesn’t mean your anxiety goes away. Anxiety is something that, whether you believe in Christ or not, you would have.

But one thing that changed for me is that I used to have a lot of anxiety about my salvation. As a very good Seventh-day Adventist, I worried about all the things you have to do. But once I learned about the gospel message and the grace of God from this class, that anxiety went away. That was the biggest anxiety of all, and I no longer worry about my salvation.

Having said that, I do worry about a lot of things. I saw a TV a news item about a four-year-old child who accidentally strangled herself playing with the curtain ropes. As parent of a young child the report filled me with anxiety because I have many such curtains in my home. I freaked out, thinking, “What if that happened?”

Those are things you can’t completely avoid. But I’m learning to reorient myself so that no matter how big my anxiety is, maybe the story it tells me is not the right story. The story God tells me is the right one, and I should just learn to give it to Him.

To David’s question: Yes, the Bible says, “Fear the Lord.” Some people translate that as learning to obey God or standing in awe of God, but I still don’t know exactly what that fear means. Is “fear” really the right word to describe it?

Michael: Kiran presented the correlation between developing countries with increased freedom, and an increase in anxiety. But I wonder if there’s causation there as well. Does having more freedom, more options, and more possibilities actually create more worries and concerns about making the right choice, knowing what’s right or wrong, and trying to lead the right life?

I wonder whether a different spiritual attitude—saying that things happen because of God’s will—might actually relieve anxiety. I don’t know.

Anonymous: Kiran’s talks seem tailor-made for me! My latest experience with the subject fits perfectly. 

I want to compare my anxiety with his. Thinking about what might happen if your son played with the curtains and hanged himself, or worrying about your salvation—those are subjects that can be dealt with throughout life. But when you’re in a situation where you’re suddenly facing a life-or-death health crisis, anxiety becomes something completely different.

This past week I had a situation like that. I started feeling a very strong heartbeat and had less and less ability to breathe. Everybody around me became anxious—my daughter, her husband—and they kept giving me suggestions: “Do this. Do that. Let’s call the doctor. Call the hospice nurse. Take oxygen.” They kept checking my oxygen, and my heart rate went up to about 188 while my oxygen dropped into the 80s.

They were very anxious, and all their suggestions made me even more anxious. My suggestion was, “Please contact everyone and have them pray for me.” That was my only refuge. I believed prayers would lift me up, take away my anxiety, and bring me back to normal.

Thankfully, everybody prayed. But while we were in the middle of it, I felt like too many suggestions and too much information were surrounding God and blocking Him from my view. That didn’t help at all. The true connection happened when I silenced them. I said, “Please don’t give me suggestions. Don’t give me more information. I’m not going to do anything. Just let me be with God.” They seemed disappointed with me, but they respected my request and became quiet.

All of a sudden—and I really cannot explain how—I fell asleep. I fell asleep after I connected with God. It’s only a thought away. Forget about the anxiety. Forget about the situation. Forget about everything that’s happening and simply lift your heart to God in a real connection, acknowledging Him. He is sleeping on the couch right here in this room. He cares. He knows everything that’s happening, and He has a plan for it.

It could be a trial to strengthen my faith. It starts with anxiety and ends with assurance of faith. It says, “Just connect with Me on a deeper level”—not merely reciting a prayer or quoting something from the Bible. No, I mean a real, deep connection. That is the magic moment of connection that drives the fear away, drives the anxiety away, and leaves you surrendered, peaceful, and tranquil.

That is my only explanation for falling asleep. Under those circumstances it would have been impossible for me in the past. But somehow I did. It must have been that real, faithful connection—believing that He was on the couch with me in my boat.

After I slept—I don’t know for how long—I woke up refreshed. I had no symptoms at all. My heartbeat had relaxed, my oxygen was back up to 96, and everything was fine. A good sleep—everybody knows what that does for you—and that’s exactly what I received simply by connecting with God.

So praise God. I know what it is not to fear in a fearful situation. It’s not that I’m fearless. Of course I started with anxiety and fear, and the people around me shared the same feelings. It’s not something physical; it’s something deeply spiritual.

I believe Jesus’ question to the disciples, “Where is your faith? You of little faith,” is really what He wants from us. Have faith, and every difficult situation will pass. You’re not going to drown. You’re not going to be left without help. I’m here with you. Just trust Me. Have faith in Me, and things will be well.

That’s firsthand experience. I know. I know that I know that I know.

Donald: That’s a powerful testimony.

A substantial number of Americans don’t have God in their lives, or at least He’s not part of their day-to-day experience. So when those people experience fear—or don’t they?—what do they do with it? I think that’s a fairly important question. We see that the answer to our fears is to go to the Bible and learn what God advises us to do with fear. Certainly, God provides assurance if we reach out to Him. 

I would ask Don about his experience of people who come to the hospital and God hasn’t been part of their lives or experience: How do they handle fear?

The second question I have comes from being able to travel as much as I have. Where we position ourselves in this world varies. As Americans, we tend to be central. I think about me, my experience, and certainly those that I love. But in other parts of the world, it seems like one’s experience is simply part of the sequence of life, and fear plays a different role because it’s accepted as part of the process. 

I think that’s what I’m trying to describe, and I think that changes one’s orientation toward fear. We tend to think that if we’re in control, we’re at peace because we can anticipate what’s next. It’s when we can’t anticipate what’s next that we become fearful.

Sharon: I’m struck by the social dynamics of who you’re in the boat with. It seems like we need to be careful about who’s in the boat with us, because the social dynamics around us can also enhance our anxiety and fear. I’m not sure what this says about the disciples, that there wasn’t even one or two people there cognitively restructuring the disaster to remind each other that Jesus was in the boat with them.

It seems to make sense that maybe Jesus’ presence is also shared with us through the kind of people we choose to be in the boat with. If we have people who can help us cognitively restructure things in the moment, then through the resilience of those relationships we’re reminded that we haven’t been abandoned before and we’re not going to be abandoned now, even when it seems like Jesus is sleeping and not paying attention.

My question is: where are your fellow disciples? Where are they to remind you that Jesus is on the couch? Thanks to Anon, for her wonderful testimony. We have to hang out with the right people, because otherwise our anxiety can actually be exacerbated by the people we surround ourselves with.

Anonymous: That’s why I call it a trial. Satan probably has his purpose for an experience like this, and God has His purpose. Satan wants to weaken—maybe even destroy—my faith. God has a different purpose. When I go through it and overcome it, my faith becomes stronger for the next trial, for the next time.

And yes, the people around us matter. If they’re not in tune with God, they can become instruments of destruction. They can increase our anxiety, or they can pray silently and help lift us out of it. It makes a tremendous difference.

I remember times in the past when I had so much anxiety and pain that I couldn’t even pray. I couldn’t even say a proper prayer. All I could repeat was, “Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to contact God. I felt completely lost, outside His presence.

In those moments, all you hope for is the hospital, the emergency room, some medicine—something. You think, “I cannot handle this by myself, nor can God.” Those were terrible times.

But I learned.

I learned that it takes only a one-second connection—a true connection, a deep connection—with the source of peace, and everything falls into place.

Reinhard: I think there are levels to our responses to uncertainty. To me, fear is an immediate response to danger that threatens our physical well-being. Anxiety may also involve impending danger, but perhaps at a somewhat milder level than fear. Then there’s another level that’s even milder: worry. Jesus addressed both.

In the story Kiran discussed, where the disciples were in the boat, Jesus asked, “Why are you afraid? Where is your faith?” I think that’s the antidote to fear: more faith. That story also teaches us that even though we’re Christians—even though Jesus is with us—temptation and fearful experiences can still happen. Being a Christian doesn’t prevent them.

Then, in Luke 12, Jesus speaks about worry. He says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat,” because God takes care of the birds and all His creation. Later He says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Then He talks about laying up treasure in heaven that cannot be destroyed.

Earlier He says that the pagans run after all these things, but your Father knows that you need them. Instead, “Seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

So I think Jesus gives us two responses. For fear: have faith. For worry: seek the kingdom of God.

The Bible also tells us many times not to be afraid. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly told Joshua, “Do not be afraid.” Throughout Israel’s history God repeated those words over and over. Even in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve sinned, Adam said, “I was afraid.” Fear became the natural human response after sin entered the world.

Speaking from my own experience, when I first came to this country and started college, I experienced what today would probably be called panic attacks—anxiety, fear that something terrible was happening, fear of illness, even fear of death. But over the years, as my spiritual journey has continued, I have found that the closer my family and I have grown to God and to obedience, the greater the assurance we have.

People who don’t believe in God are understandably afraid of death. As Christians, we have God’s assurance. That doesn’t mean we never worry about the future. As human beings, we still wonder what will happen when we grow old or when our lives come to an end. But the promises of Scripture ease that worry. The closer we are to God and His Word, the more assurance we have that whatever happens is under God’s control. He knows our lives. He knows what is best for us.

If we live with that assurance, stay close to Him, and obey His will, everything is put into its proper perspective. I think all this fear, anxiety, and worry eventually subsides. We move forward with greater peace than people who have no hope, no God, and no future.

In that sense, we are fortunate. We know God, and we believe He will take care of us. Even after we’re gone, He will continue taking care of our families, as long as we teach them to stay close to Him. I believe everything ultimately will be all right as long as we cling to God. I know God will take care of us.

C-J: I wanted to address the question of whether some people are simply braver or stronger. In the amygdala—the deepest part of our ancient brain—we’re wired to fight, flee, or freeze. That’s built into us deliberately to help us survive, both as individuals and as members of a community.

So I think when we understand what triggers that response, we can begin to override it.

When Anon—and really all of us—have experienced anxiety, we eventually ask, “What caused this? Why now?” For me, it’s often about what kinds of stressors I’m experiencing and how many layers there are. Is it just two things bothering me? Or is the phone ringing, the dogs barking, bills need to be paid, and I don’t know what I’m going to do? One of those by itself I could handle, but when they all collide, I struggle to regulate myself.

What Anon finally did was surrender. I know that if I practice box breathing, or if I simply shut everything down and go back to that quiet place in my mind—like a child in a dark room—I might put on music, lie down, and consciously count my breaths. But Anon went straight to God because she had that history of reaching the point where she couldn’t do anything more.

We’re lucky. We’re very blessed to have this relationship with God. But we also teach these same principles to soldiers, people in combat, prisoners, people who have survived concentration camps, beatings, and severe trauma. We begin piece by piece: “Here’s the food. Drink the water. Stay present.”

Often what heals people is touch—the connection of touch. You’re not alone. Somebody cares. Whether we love someone who’s a stranger or someone we’re deeply connected to, I really believe in the transfer of that caring presence. Sometimes someone simply has a gentle touch. Just touching you makes you feel better. Or it’s the tone of a person’s voice.

Human beings have such an incredible capacity to become instruments of peace and love, and God tells us that all the time. The words we speak and simply being present are incredibly powerful. Anon knew her family was acting out of love, but what she needed was quiet so she could reconnect with God. Once they allowed her to do that, she went to sleep—which is how we heal. When we sleep, our brains and our bodies reset. Restorative sleep literally gives us life.

Jerrold: From an educational perspective, there’s a rather disturbing part of this story of the storm that we don’t focus on very often. It is that, if you look at the background, it seems Jesus is actually steering the disciples into the storm. That’s not a particularly comforting way to think about our Master.

When I’m teaching students—and for myself as well—I often ask: Would I choose to participate in a class where there was no evaluation, no test? Would I choose to attend a class that said, “Just show up and you’ll receive a certificate. It doesn’t matter what you do, think, or say”? We’d all say that’s a waste of time.

It seems clear that this is not merely an ordinary anxiety the disciples are experiencing. It’s as though the Master comes to class and says, “There’s going to be a test on Thursday.” That creates anxiety at a completely different level for everyone who has gone from kindergarten through advanced degrees.

The disciples had just fed the five thousand. They had healed people. They could see the kingdom taking shape. They were probably imagining an organization with themselves as vice presidents, and the Romans being driven out before long. They had tremendous hope. Then the Master says, “Let’s go to the other side of the sea”—which turns out to be the test. Then He very deliberately sits in the captain’s seat and falls asleep, which offers no comfort at all.

That’s an astonishing picture.

When I encounter a test—whether it’s illness, an accident, car trouble, financial problems, or family members whose anxiety raises my own—if I can turn to the Master and ask, “What’s this about? What’s this about?” then perhaps I can recognize that this is the examination. Then I can say, “Can You walk me through the answer?”

I don’t know whether that’s helpful. I’m still working through it myself, and I certainly can’t say I have the answer. Except this: praise God for Jesus Christ.

Michael: What’s interesting is that Jesus’ question seems obvious on the surface. “Why are you afraid?” It’s very clear why they’re afraid. The answer seems completely obvious. That’s why I think the question must be operating on a much deeper, more existential level.

Why are you afraid… existentially? Why is fear part of your existence? I don’t know exactly what He means, but it feels like there’s something much deeper going on than what first meets the eye. Usually that’s true of God’s questions.

C-J: I think it’s like being an athlete. An athlete may have natural talent and the drive to succeed, but they also need training and practice—accurate training and practice. Not just calculating the elevation of a hill or figuring out how fast they have to run to match another competitor.

I think that’s what God is always asking us to become: athletes, ambassadors. To do that well, I have to lay aside my old nature, learn to trust God in this relationship, trust the teachers and mentors He’s placed around me, and practice. Not always in safe places.

Life has always been a battle for me. But the more I practice, the more accurate I become in pursuing my goal, and the better I become at coping because I understand what I’m walking into.

The way Anon shared her testimony this morning shows that she hasn’t merely survived. Her relationship with God has become deep, and she is now a witness and a testimony to her family.

Don: Donald, to answer your question about anxiety and the response to illness, I would simply say this. People who have a strong relationship with God often find that relationship challenged in the face of illness. Those who don’t have a relationship with God often seek Him—and sometimes find Him—through the circumstances of their illness.

So, in the boat, we see that the disciples’ relationship with God is questioned in the face of what they believe is impending catastrophe.

Donald: That’s interesting. That’s actually not the response I expected you to give. Let me make sure I understood you correctly. Someone who comes to a crisis in the hospital already knowing God struggles with the question, “Where is God?” Meanwhile, someone who comes to the hospital without a relationship with God begins seeking Him. Is that what you just said?

Don: Yes. That’s exactly what I said. It’s simply an observation—not a scientific conclusion—just something I’ve noticed over the years.

Donald: Either way, God is sought in threatening moments. Do some people simply go through it alone without trying to find Him?

Don: I’m sure some do. But my impression is that more people search for meaning in their illness than remain completely indifferent.

Anonymous: There’s another lesson worth mentioning. One day Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit. The Bible says they became afraid, and that’s why they hid themselves from God.

Our first response when we face something frightening is often fear, and the tragic consequence is that we hide ourselves from the very Source we most need. They hid themselves from God. In moments of anxiety and fear, we should not hide from God—we should run to Him. If we hide, God asks, “Who told you that you were naked?”

Likewise, Jesus asks, “Where is your faith?” Why are you afraid of the situation when I am here with you? Don’t hide from Me. Run to Me. That’s the opposite of what we usually do when we’re overwhelmed by anxiety. The first thing we do is become afraid and hide.

Then there’s the verse that says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” I’ve often wondered: whose love? God’s love for us? Our love for God? Which love actually drives fear away? Eventually I came to this conclusion: It’s the love that connects my heart with God’s heart. He loves me. I love Him.

When we’re living in that genuine relationship of love, there’s no fear. I’m not going to run away from Someone I love—or from Someone I know loves me. That’s why love drives fear away.

Reinhard: Regarding anxiety, especially among elderly people, whether they’re in nursing homes or hospitals, studies have shown that people with strong social support tend to recover more quickly and often live longer.

Personal devotion, worship, and a relationship with God also seem to contribute to recovery and even longevity. Research has supported those observations.

So, as we apply this to our own lives, science tells us that people with mental or emotional problems should seek help from psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals. We learn ways to manage our behavior and improve our quality of life, and that’s a good thing.

But after all of that, I still believe that when we have a good relationship with God and continually depend upon Him, we experience the deepest peace. I believe that’s what ultimately brings quietness, peace, and happiness into our lives.

Don: As we’ve said before, there are hundreds of questions that God asks throughout Scripture. And, as we’ve also observed, the Bible is more a book of questions than a book of answers, even though we often go to it looking for answers. When God appears, He usually begins with questions.

We’re going to continue this discussion next week. Michael will lead us into the next narrative, and he’ll continue this series on the questions God asks, because there are hundreds more that we haven’t even touched.

Kiran: I’m simply blessed by the perspective that God sometimes leads us into these tests, but then invites us to seek His help in order to pass them. I find that very comforting. 

Don: Thank you, everyone, and to Sharon’s friends for joining us. You’re welcome to join us anytime you wish.