On the other hand, abnormal or excessive fear is a monster which can paralyze and destroy. Panic is fear out of control.

The magnificent miracle story that is our text for the morning is God's gift to us fearful people.

One night Jesus and His twelve disciples were sailing across the six-mile-wide Sea of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples filled their fishing boat to capacity. Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the stern of the vessel. A storm struck. Consider the disciples in that boat at night facing a storm that seemed on the verge of swamping them. They were probably over two miles from the nearest shore, with no life preservers. In their panic they screamed, “Jesus, wake up! Don't you care whether we die or not?"

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Jesus awoke and looked around. Then he performed a miracle that astounded the disciples. He ordered the storm to be quiet, and a great calm fell upon the Sea.

As we consider this story we see right away the cause of excessive fear in any situation. Any time your source of security is not strong enough to sustain you, then fear runs wild.

The disciples were still rookies in their relationship with Jesus; therefore, they weren't yet sure who He was or how much they could depend on Him. They assumed that their main protection against the storm was the little boat, and it was clearly not strong enough or big enough to sustain them.

Sometimes I have this recurring dream that really energizes my fear responses. I am about to take the final examination in a college calculus course. Now I know that would not panic many of you, but I have only four math circuits in my brain, and they are neatly labeled addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I don't have an extra circuit for calculus. Therefore, when confronted by calculus, my mental computer starts flashing red lights and an inner voice says, "Run for your life; you're in deep trouble."

Excessive fear is caused when our source of security is not strong enough to sustain us.

The most common fears relate to matters we cannot control. None of us can guarantee success in marriage or on the job. Our companies could be down-sized or sold, leaving us without jobs. Neither our health nor the health of our families can be guaranteed. We cannot control our children 24 hours per day even when they live at home, much less when they go away to college. Therefore, if we are our own primary sources of security, we will be tempted to panic.

When Jesus was awakened in the middle of that stormy sea He asked, "Why are you afraid?" That might have seemed a foolish question to the disciples. "Isn't it obvious why we're afraid? We're about to drown."

But Jesus knew He could stop that storm and He thought the disciples knew that. They didn't; therefore, they panicked.

We become fearful when we doubt that our source of security is strong enough to sustain us. What is the cure for fear? The cure is to develop confidence that God is with us and is sufficient for our needs. That confidence is called faith.