Fear can feel like an unwelcomed, constant companion in our lives, paralyzing our actions, damaging our relationships and hindering our faith. Everyone has to deal with fear, but how can we handle fear in a way that strengthens our faith and helps us see who Jesus really is?
Thinking back to when you were a child or a teenager, can you share an experience of when you were afraid?
As an adult, what are you afraid of right now? What situation or experience are you going through that keeps you up at night because you know it’s too much for you to handle?
Read Mark 5:21-24. How does fear wake you up to the reality that you can’t handle what you were certain you could?
How does Mark 5:25-34 show us that fear can be used as a launching point for faith? Has there been a time in your life when fear brought you to the point that you realized that Jesus was the only one who could help you?
Read Mark 5:35. Are there times when uncertainty tells you that there’s no point in taking steps of faith to go where God is calling you? Can you share a time when you listened to that uncertainty and missed out on what God had for you, or a time when you ignored that uncertainty and saw God work mightily in your life?
Read Mark 5:36. Jesus’ words in this verse seem so simple, but what is it about the tension that fear brings that makes the experience of trusting God seem anything but simple.
Mark 5:37-43 tells us that Jesus is the one who can handle what we can’t. What would it look like for you if every time fear wants to keep you where you are, you claimed that truth over your fear? Is there a practical step you can take this week to respond to fear with faith?