SEE (head)
Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth and is greeted coldly by his neighbors. Seeing him as an ordinary carpenter with no special training, they refuse to accept that Jesus' many wonderful words and works are from God. Rather than placing their trust in him, they take offence at (literally "stumble over") Jesus.  

Amazed ... scoffed ... deeply offended (vv. 2, 3). "[R]eturning as a Teacher (Rabbi) surrounded by His students," Jesus "began teaching in the synagogue," no doubt "speak[ing] about his person and mission, and the relation of both to OT fulfillment." [ref] Jesus was met by bitter skepticism from his neighbors. They asked, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?" (v. 2, NASB). "These things" ("these ideas" NET) probably refers to Jesus' proclamation regarding God's kingdom. [ref] To paraphrase Jesus' audience: "Where is he getting this stuff? Who taught it to him? How in the world is he able to do these things?" They were "greatly astounded" [ref] at what they now saw and heard, and very quickly their astonishment turned to hostility. The people who knew Jesus best really did not know him at all, seeing him as nothing more than "just a carpenter, the son of Mary" - likely meant as an insult, "for a man was not regarded as his mother's son in Jewish usage unless an insult was intended." [ref] [ref] 

Amazingly, the crowd saw Jesus as nothing more than "a local boy putting on airs," and so they openly questioned his training, skills, and ability. [ref] As one source puts it: "They felt that there was some hocus-pocus about it somehow and somewhere. They do not deny the wisdom of his words, nor the wonder of his works, but the townsmen knew Jesus and they had never suspected that he possessed such gifts and graces." [ref] Jesus was one of them and, to their knowledge, neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet (see AMOS 7:14). "[T]hese people of Nazareth admit the wisdom and the works of power and yet become hostile because they cannot solve the mystery as to how their townsman obtained these gifts." [ref] 

Despite his God-given, powerful, and successful ministry abroad, when Jesus returned home he was met with disrespect and disbelief, and his neighbors took offense at him. [ref] Jesus "was amazed at their unbelief" (v. 6). As one paraphrase renders it: "He couldn't get over their stubbornness" (The Message). Jesus "marvelled at the faith of the Roman centurion where one would not expect faith (Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9). Here he marvels at the lack of faith where he had a right to expect it, not merely among the Jews, but in his own home town, among his kinspeople, even in his own home." [ref] 

Couldn't do any miracles (v. 5). While Jesus certainly could have supernaturally "suppress[ed] the people's rebellious stand, he respected their own responsibility for their attitudes and actions." [ref] As a result of their lack of faith, Jesus chose to limit his miraculous activities among them - a limitation having to do more with his purpose than his power. [ref] "That Jesus is 'unable' to do works because of their unbelief presumes a limitation not of his power but of his mission: to heal without morally directed faith would be to act like the pagan magicians of antiquity." [ref] What's more, the blindness of the townspeople was but a foretaste of what all true disciples of Jesus - both then and now - can and should expect. [ref]

HEAR (heart)
Baptist by Birth

Lowell Streiker, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, tells a humorous story which illustrates the wrong way to make decisions.

While preaching at a small Methodist church in Georgia he asked for a show of hands to indicate who was a Methodist. Everyone raised their hands except for one little old lady.

When asked why she did not raise her hand, the elderly lady said that she was a Baptist. When pressed to explain her decision to become a Baptist, the lady said that she really did not know except that she was following the tradition established by her grandparents and repeated by her parents.

Reverend Streiker gently corrected the lady: "Ma'am, that's really not a good reason to be a Baptist. Suppose your mother and your father, and your grandmother and your grandfather had been morons, what would you have been?"

To which the sweet little old lady replied: "I guess I'd have been a Methodist." [ref] (paraphrased)

How could Jesus' friends, neighbors and family members miss his true identity? Answer: Because they relied on faulty, traditional reasoning. They refused to believe that God could or would choose a fatherless common carpenter to deliver Israel. They were looking for royal robes and military might and, while the reports of Jesus' miracles were impressive enough, simply healing the sick and teaching the multitudes was not enough to make him king. Simply put, they rejected Jesus because he did not meet their expectations.

DO (hands)
??? As followers of Christ, how can we expect to be treated by others? How should we respond?

SEE (head)
Jesus multiplies his ministry by sending out his twelve closest followers as his personal representatives. Their efforts mirror those of Jesus, as they preach repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick.  

Began sending them out (v. 7). While Jesus' sending out the twelve apostles was in many ways a unique event [ref] intended to prepare them for their future task of taking the Gospel to all the world, [ref] [ref] there are a number of important principles that apply to every believer in every age:

• Strategic support. Traveling in pairs would provide a greater degree of protection, as well as allow them to cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. "The six pairs of apostles could thus cover Galilee in six different directions." [ref] [ref]

• Accountability. Jewish law required that a claim be verified by at least two witnesses. Serving as each other's witnesses, the apostles would be accountable to one another and, more importantly, accountable to God's law. [ref]

• God-reliance vs. self-reliance. "The orders which Jesus issues are to teach the apostles absolute dependence upon their Lord who sends them out." [ref] Rather than purchase extra supplies for the trip, they were to rely solely upon God's providence. [ref] [ref] This would include accepting the hospitality of other people, but not begging. (Along these lines, the "traveler's bag" may refer specifically to "a 'beggar's bag' used to collect food or money." [ref] [ref]) And the disciples were to remain in one house - in contrast to "the practice of religious philosophers in the ancient world who went from house to house begging." [ref] Thus Jesus' directions were "against luxury in equipment, and also against their providing themselves with what they could procure from the hospitality of others." [ref] [ref] Jesus' "directions are not intended to inflict hardship on the disciples but to relieve them of all worry regarding their bodily needs." [ref] Reliance upon God is also seen in the use of olive oil. Although it had many everyday uses, it is likely that within the context of the apostles' ministry it was intended to serve as "a symbol of the presence, grace, and power of the Holy Spirit," thus implying that God, not the apostles, was the source of healing. [ref] (To our knowledge, Jesus did not use olive oil when he healed, and neither did the apostles following the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. [ref])

• Right priorities. Evangelism is literally a life or death matter for those who hear the Gospel. And so evangelists "must not be fussy about food or accommodation," [ref] to include avoiding skipping from house to house in search of ever better accommodations. [ref] [ref] (The staff ["walking stick" NLT] the apostles carried may have served as both a walking stick ["Every traveller and pilgrim carried his staff." [ref]] and "an emblem of authority." [ref])

• Decisions have consequences. Those who hear the Gospel are responsible for their reaction to it. The disciples' chief concern was to present the Gospel "faithfully and carefully." [ref] To reject the Gospel is to place oneself in dire danger, as evidenced by the apostles shaking the (unclean) dust from their feet - a symbolic action declaring that the Jewish hearers "were acting like pagans in rejecting the disciples' message" [ref] (see Acts 13:50-51). [ref] [ref] [ref] One source notes how the dust from the disciples' feet was intended as a witness against those who had rejected them - it proved that the disciples had actually been there, but had been forced to leave when their Gospel message was rejected. [ref]

• A change in direction. The apostles "went out and preached that men should repent" (v. 12, NASB). The NLT correctly captures the meaning: "So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God." To repent is "to change one's way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness." [ref] It involves simultaneously turning away from what is wrong and turning toward what is right. While our Christian walk and witness begins with a definite act of repenting, repentance is nothing less than a daily process as we seek to become ever more Christ-like in our every thought, word, and deed.

HEAR (heart)
Common Goose Sense

Working together to spread the Gospel does not require a college degree or years of on-the-job training. In fact, it really takes only a little common "goose sense." 

Geese, you see, have an incredible way of pulling together to get the job done. In that respect, they can teach the Church a thing or three.

• Working Together: When geese fly in a "V" formation, every bird creates an uplift for the one right behind it. In this way they cover much more territory than any one bird could cover flying alone.
• Staying Together: If a bird happens to fall out of formation, he immediately feels the drag and resistance that goes with flying alone, and so quickly rejoins the formation.
• Leadership Rotation: When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in order to rest and to give a fresher, stronger bird a chance to lead.
• Encouragement: Geese honk as a way of encouraging those up front to keep going.
• Caring for the Wounded: If a goose becomes sick or is wounded and falls out of formation, two other birds will follow him to the ground and will stay with him until he is either well and able to fly or dead. [ref] (paraphrased)

DO (hands)
??? When and why do we tend to separate ourselves from others? What can Jesus' commissioning of the twelve teach us about how we can and should work together in spreading the Gospel?

SEE (head)
Herod Antipas (v. 14).

Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, a Samaritan woman. Half Idumean, half Samaritan, he had therefore not a drop of Jewish blood in his veins, and "Galilee of the Gentiles" seemed a fit dominion for such a prince. He ruled as "tetrarch" of Galilee and Peraea (Luke 3:1) from 4 BC till 39 AD. The gospel picture we have of him is far from prepossessing. He is superstitious (Matthew 4:1f), foxlike in his cunning (Luke 13:31f) and wholly immoral. John the Baptist was brought into his life through an open rebuke of his gross immorality and defiance of the laws of Moses (Leviticus 18:16), and paid for his courage with his life (Matthew 14:10;  Ant, XVIII, v, 2). [ref] (quoted verbatim)

Herod Antipas sent away his wife (a king's daughter), and Herodias (his niece) deserted her husband (her uncle, Herod Philip) so that they could be together. Theirs was an adulterous and incestuous relationship. "[Herod Antipas's] first wife was a daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia. But [Antipas] sent her back to her father at Petra, for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had met and seduced at Rome. Since the latter was the daughter of Aristobulus, his half-brother, and therefore his niece, and at the same time the wife of another half-brother, the union between her and Antipas was doubly sinful. Aretas repaid this insult to his daughter by a destructive war (Ant., XVIII, v, 1)." [ref] 

John the Baptist ... Herodias (vv. 14, 19). John the Baptist had denounced the immoral and illegal marriage of Herod Antipas. For her part, "Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill" (v. 19, The Message) "this upstart prophet of the wilderness who had dared to denounce her private relations with Herod Antipas. ... She never let up, but bided her time which, she felt sure, would come." [ref]  In a desire to keep peace with his wife, Herod had John locked away "in a terrible, deep, and hot dungeon that formed part of the castle-palace at Machaerus [ma KAY rus [ref]]." [ref] Convinced that John was not merely innocent but even "a good and holy man" (v. 20) - that is, "[a] holy, pious, upright, honest man" [ref] - Herod refused to have him killed.  

And so Herodias stewed in her anger until her chance finally arrived when her daughter, Salome [suh LOE mee [ref]] ("probably in her middle teens" [ref] [ref]), performed a lewd dance at a party Herod had given for some high-ranking officials and community leaders. "We can well imagine the erotic and suggestive manner in which the probably half-naked girl danced." [ref] Through her mother's prompting, the daughter responded to Herod's extravagant gratitude by asking that John the Baptist's head be added to the dinner menu [ref] - indisputable proof that the prophet had indeed been put to death. [ref] [ref] Herod's "moral impotency coupled with his silly pride" [ref] got the best of him. Anything but a man of high moral character, Herod kept his rash oath (= "public promise" [ref]) not for the sake of Salome, but because of the many "important" guests who had witnessed it. [ref] Herod was caught in the mother-daughter trap and had John executed. Herod Antipas "stands as the example of all the moral cowards whose moral and religious convictions are too weak to meet an issue." [ref] 

Herodias was a type of Jezebel and, in fact, Mark may have been alluding "to the Elijah-Jezebel conflict since Jesus later identified John as Elijah (Mark 9:11-13)." [ref] Like the religious leaders who turned against Jesus, Herodias preferred to get rid of the one who denounced her sin rather than deal with the sin itself. [ref] And as the religious leaders feared losing their place of prominence, Herodias must have feared that John's message might eventually convict Herod and lead him to put her away. [ref] This episode demonstrates the lengths to which people will go in an effort to silence the Gospel. [ref] For those who oppose the message of Jesus, the most important things in life are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. [ref] 

Herod ... Jesus (v. 16). The apostles' preaching tour was so successful that word of Jesus soon reached Herod himself. [ref] [ref] Popular opinion held that Jesus was a miracle-working prophet, and guilt-ridden Herod feared that he was actually John the Baptist returned to life. "John wrought no miracles (John 10:41), but if he had risen from the dead perhaps he could. So Herod may have argued." [ref] [ref] Jesus' ministry was similar to John's in that they both preached repentance. [ref] John had denounced the immoral and unlawful aspects of Herod's actions, while Herod's fears were based on political dangers. [ref] (Some things never change. While today's immoral politicians may have no respect for God's Word, they very much care about anything that might upset their political careers.) It is worth noting that Herod eventually received his just deserts: his army was defeated, he was deposed, and he and Herodias were banished. [ref] Contrast Herod with Jesus: "Over against the corrupt and failed 'kingship' of Herod, who feasts in his palace and is concerned only for his status and the great ones of Galilee, stands Jesus." [ref] Herod pretended to be a king; preferred the company of society's "elite"; was a spineless coward; and ended his life in humiliation. On the other hand, Jesus was the King of kings (incognito); preferred the company of ordinary, unpretentious people; was a courageous hero; and ended his life in the triumph of the resurrection, with the promise of a future return and universal acknowledgement of his right to rule. 

HEAR (heart)
Refusing to Hear

The story is told of a rich father whose son, whom we'll call Ralph, took to a life of crime and debauchery, in the process bringing disgrace on his family and causing his father much grief. When he learned that his father had died, however, Ralph went home immediately in the hopes that his father had left him something in the will.  

Along with the other family members, the rebellious son sat in the attorney's office and heard the reading of the will, the first part of which included a lengthy listing of the son's misdeeds. Unable to endure any more, Ralph jumped up and fled the room. He disappeared completely, and no one ever heard from him again.  

It turned out, however, that the father had left his son an inheritance of $25,000. But Ralph ran out before getting to that part of the will. And since he could not be located, he never received his inheritance.  

Ralph paid a high price for refusing to hear about his sins. [ref] (paraphrased)

Rather than confess their guilt, Herod and Herodias silenced the voice of the one who confronted them with their sinful lifestyle. In the end, they lost the inheritance that God has in store for anyone who will turn from his/her sins and turn toward him.

DO (hands)
??? What are some ways in which people today seek to silence the convicting Gospel?

SEE (head)
The disciples' ministry tour was a rousing success, and people continue flocking to Jesus by the thousands. Seeking a much deserved rest, Jesus and his disciples instead find themselves once again surrounded by people in need. Rather than withdraw from them, however, Jesus has compassion on them by first of all mercifully feeding their souls and then by miraculously filling their stomachs.  

Like sheep (v. 34). The crowd was "like sheep without a shepherd" - that is, they were "lost and helpless, without guidance, nourishment, or protection." [ref] Jesus "had compassion on them" (v. 34) - he personally identified with their plight and determined to do something about it. As one source puts it: "With [Jesus] sympathy is not just a feeling. It is a tender feeling transformed into helpful action." [ref] As recorded in Matthew and Luke, Jesus also healed the sick among the crowd, and of course such miraculous physical healing was a normal part of Jesus' ministry. While there are several OT parallels to the idea of shepherding, three in particular are of special note: [ref]

1. At the commissioning of Joshua, Moses asked God to "'appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd'" (Numbers 27:16-17). (Leading/going out and leading/coming is military imagery. [ref])

2. When David was made king over Israel, "all the tribes of Israel" affirmed his calling: "Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, 'Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And the LORD said to you, "You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel."' So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the LORD at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel" (2 Samuel 5:1-3).

3. And in the same section of Scripture cited by John the Baptist ("Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness ... "), the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the LORD to his people: "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes" (Isaiah 40:11, all NASB).

Jesus "is the rejected lowly shepherd, compassionate though powerful in spirit and mighty in action, through whom God will expose wicked shepherds and faithfully shepherd his flock in their pasture. ... Not only are the shepherding hopes of a new Moses, a new Joshua, a new David, and perhaps the Isaianic servant fulfilled in Jesus, but also again, in some mysterious way, Yahweh himself has uniquely come among his people."  [ref] 

Something to eat (v. 36). Like a shepherd caring for his flock, Jesus provided food for those who had followed him. [ref] Jesus' miraculous feeding is reminiscent of a similar miracle performed by the prophet Elisha, although that miracle was on a far smaller scale (see 2 Kings 4:42-44). [ref] But while Jesus was indeed concerned with the people's physical hunger, he wished to teach them a vital truth they would never forget. Along these lines, there may well be something to the fact that the "groups" (v. 39, Greek symposion) into which the people were told to form themselves is the source for our word "symposium." [ref] [ref] And an "orderly arrangement" [ref] - literally "like beds in a garden" [ref] - is the idea behind the "groups" (v. 40, Greek prasia) into which the people seated themselves. As one source notes: "The whole multitude was arranged like a great garden with its beds all beautifully regular. Incidentally, this arrangement made it easy to count the entire multitude." [ref] 

Jesus involved his disciples in this faith-stretching miracle, using them as vehicles for demonstrating grace and mercy to people in need. At first the disciples "stop at the impossibilities and do not see that these impossibilities are to make them think of Jesus and the things that are possible to him." [ref] As directed by Jesus, they checked to see how much food was on hand - possibly in hopes of convincing Jesus of the hopelessness of their situation. [ref] In the end, however, the disciples who are so preoccupied with the practical are treated to some very practical lessons regarding effective ministry, namely that it involves: taking responsibility for a situation; persisting in finding a solution; and being willing to be used of God. [ref] Effective ministry also involves following Jesus' example in using our God-given abilities to help rather than to harm. Along these lines, we should take note of the fact that "Jesus never employed his miracle-working power to destroy or even to hurt the people but always to help them. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, had compassion on and taught the misled, and sought the lost." [ref] 

When Jesus blessed (Greek eulogeo) the food, he was literally offering a "eulogy" or "high praise." [ref] "The object of the blessing in such a prayer was not the food, but God who gave it." [ref] This miracle shows that God is concerned with seemingly mundane things such as physical hunger, and it highlights the arena in which God works best: normal, everyday life (John tells us that the bread and fish was from a "lad with his lunch which his mother had given him." [ref]). The tremendous miracle is followed not by everyone crossing their legs and meditating their way into nirvana, but rather by the disciples bending over to collect the leftovers, quite "possibly for the next day's meal." [ref] What's more, the fact that there were exactly twelve baskets of leftovers would mean that Jesus would have to depend on his disciples to share their food with him. [ref] 

This miracle is very important in Mark's gospel. Coming as it does immediately after Herod's feast, it draws a sharp contrast between the priorities of the world and those of God's kingdom. Jesus meets the people's physical needs, but he does so using "the staples of a peasant's diet." [ref] This miracle event will be referred to twice (Mark 6:52; 8:17-21), and is followed by a similar miracle in which four thousand men are fed (Mark 8). [ref]

HEAR (heart)
A Statue and a Monument

In the city of Paris is located statutes of two men named Louis.  

One is Louis XIV, king of France and absolute monarch remembered for his power-hungry, egotistical efforts to make everyone submit to his will. 

The other is Louis Pasteur, the Christian chemist and microbiologist remembered for his tireless research, the end results of which was the alleviation of disease and suffering for countless people around the globe. 

"The statue of the monarch is nothing more than a piece of sculpture; the statue of Pasteur is a shrine where pilgrims from all over the world pay grateful homage. It is the uncrowned servant of mankind who wears the real crown of men's love and honor." [ref] (paraphrased)

While God may not be calling you to become a famous chemist and microbiologist, God has prepared each of us for, and expects each of us to do, good works in the name of Jesus Christ. Why? Because God still meets people's physical needs today, and he uses his children to do so. Our acts of service is the starting point for showing his love and mercy to a world in dire need of it. And we can rest assured that no good deed done in the name of Jesus, no matter how small, will ever be in vain.

DO (hands)
??? What gifts or abilities has God given you? What can this passage teach us about God's desire to use our gifts and abilities to help others in everyday situations?

SEE (head)
Jesus sends his disciples away so that he can dismiss the crowds and spend time alone with God. A fierce storm arises, placing the disciples in harm's way as they struggle to row their boat to the shore. Jesus sees their dilemma and walks across the water to get to them. Jesus calms their fears and then calms the storm. On reaching the other side of the lake, Jesus encounters a sea of sick people in need of help, and he heals them.  

To pray (v. 46). Three times Mark records how Jesus withdrew to pray (Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:32), the pattern being a crisis event to which Jesus responded by withdrawing in order to commune with his Father. We know from John's version of the feeding of the five-thousand that afterward the crowd sought to forcefully install Jesus as their king (John 6:15). [ref] [ref] "There was a movement to start a revolution against Roman rule in Palestine by proclaiming Jesus King and driving away Pilate." [ref] This, of course, would have resulted in much bloodshed and, moreover, would have been contrary to Christ's kingdom, which is not of this world (John 18:36). [ref] As one source puts it: "No one really understood Jesus, not the crowds, not the disciples. Jesus needed the Father to stay and steady him." [ref] 

Walking on the water (vv. 48, 49). It was early in the morning (3:00 - 6:00 a.m. [ref] [ref]) and the exhausted disciples were trapped in one of the lake's renowned storms that had "swept over the water and lashed it into furious waves." [ref] Literally, the boat (Matthew) and the men rowing it (Mark) were being "tortured" (Greek basanizo: "to punish by physical torture or torment" [ref]). [ref] Suddenly they looked up and saw what they could only assume to be a ghost - an omen of impending death. [ref] [ref] They literally screamed in terror. [ref] Jesus "intended to go past" the disciples, perhaps in a way reminiscent of God's "passing beside" in the OT as a means of offering miraculous reassurance (see Exodus 33:19, 22; 1 Kings 19:11). [ref] [ref] Jesus identified himself to them and the disciples received him into the boat. When he rebuked the storm, however, they were utterly amazed -  literally, they were amazed "exceedingly beyond measure." [ref] Why? Because they still had not fully recognized Jesus for who he was.  

It is worth asking why Mark chose to omit the fact that Peter walked on the water. After all, Mark is supposed to have been recording Peter's recollections. What's more, this is actually but one of three incidents in which Peter figures prominently that are recorded by Matthew but not Mark. As one source explains: 

These are Peter's walking on the water (Matthew 14:28–33), the paying of the temple tax (Matthew 17:24–27), and the statement about the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19). These omissions may reasonably be explained as due to modesty on Peter's part. In his preaching he was concerned to exalt Christ, not himself. It is worth noting that in Mark's gospel Peter is never mentioned alone except in connection with his being rebuked by Jesus. This is the kind of humility that one would expect to find in Peter after Pentecost. [ref] (quoted verbatim)

Walking on the water is something only God can do: "He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8, NLT). [ref] Jesus greeted the terrified disciples with a command to "Take courage!" Meaning "to have confidence and firmness of purpose in the face of danger or testing," [ref] this phrase (Greek tharseo) is found seven times in the NT and is always associated with Jesus (Matthew 9:2, 22; 14:27; Mark 6:50; 10:49; John 16:33; Acts 23:11). [ref] 

The people (v. 54). Mark contrasts the disciples with the crowd who immediately recognized Jesus. The sick people who came to Jesus were convinced that he was from God and could heal them. The mention of "the fringe of his robe" recalls the miraculous healing of the bleeding woman. As was true in her case, "[h]ealing was not effected by a touch but by the gracious action of Jesus who honored this means of expressing their faith in Him." [ref] Mark shows his readers that there was no limit to the numbers of people Jesus could heal. [ref]

HEAR (heart)
The Pilot's Face

Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson told a story in which a ship was caught in a terrible storm. The rocky coast nearby threatened to smash the ship to pieces and kill everyone aboard. 

One brave soul from among the passengers fought his way to the pilot-house, where he saw the pilot strapped to the wheel and slowly turning it bit by bit out into the open sea. The pilot saw the look of sheer terror on the passengers face, and he gave him a reassuring smile. 

The man then ran back to the other passengers and reported the good news. "'I have seen the face of the pilot and he smiled. All is well.' The sight of that smiling face averted panic and converted despair into hope." [ref] (paraphrased)

God will allow us to endure turbulent times. When we do, we can, should, and must trust him to keep us safe and on course.

DO (hands)
??? What can this passage teach us about overcoming our fears and trusting in Christ?