Marc-ooo! Po-looo!  Marc-ooo!  Po-loooo! Sound familiar?  Marco Polo was one of my favorite games as a kid. I loved being Polo. Outmaneuvering and sometimes tricking Marco into thinking I was on one side of the pool as I swam to the other was great fun.  I would dart, dunk and dodge with all my might in order to avoid having to be "Marco."

But the idea of having to close my eyes and just listen for my friends was scary.  What if they led me in the wrong direction? What if they played a big joke on me and tricked me into running head first into the cement side of the pool?  If I didn't hear their voices loud enough, my mind would fill with fear as I imagined being humiliated or abandoned.  I would open my eyes to check where I was and make sure everything was alright.  I was obviously immediately disqualified but I preferred that over the terror that filled the dark behind my closed eyes.

Do you ever feel like you're playing Marco Polo with God?  You close your eyes, listen for His voice and try to go where He is calling, hoping He isn't waiting to play a big trick on you.  Do you get afraid like I did because you don't know where you're going and where He's leading you? We're not the only ones.

There are some guys in the Bible who also got freaked out in the water when they weren't sure if God was in control. Their story is found in Mark 4.  The guys were Jesus' disciples, and after a long day of preaching, Jesus told the disciples to go with Him over to the other side of the lake. They climbed into the boats and set out. Jesus fell asleep along the way.  A huge storm appeared and as the waves rose and the water poured into the boat, the disciples freaked. Terrified of drowning, they woke Jesus and begged for help. Jesus calmed the storm and then asked the stunned disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)  He was taking care of them but instead of trusting in that, they looked at their circumstances and became afraid.

Fear is a God-given emotion.  There are things we should fear such as the holiness of God or the snares of sin.  However, fear has no place as we walk in our faith.  We should not be afraid when we're following Him.  It's only when we're not following Him that we should be afraid.  Even when we can't see Him, we can be sure that He is there.  He is not playing a trick on us and has not left us to drown.  He is leading us.  We must have faith and follow.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

Making It Personal:

1. Sometimes we may feel like the disciples did on the boat, like God has just fallen asleep on us and left us there on the boat.  Do you ever feel like that?  Do you feel like you cry out to Him and get no response?
2. Even though we don't have the physical manifestation of Jesus in the water with us, we have His precious words with us.  We find that when we look to scripture, we can learn where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do.  Can you remember a time when you were scared or confused and God used His Word to help guide you?
3. When we look in God's Word, we find that sometimes He calls us to some things and also away from some things.  For example, scripture calls us to love our enemies and bless those that curse us.  It calls us away from sexual immorality.  Can you think of any other examples of what scripture calls us to or away from?

Kate Henderson has been doing youth ministry since she was a youth.  She loves doing life with girls and teaching them practical, biblical truths.  Kate's ministry, The Freshman 15, is a retreat and Bible study that prepares girls for their freshman year in college.  When she's not writing and teaching, Kate can be found hanging with her sweet hubby and chasing her adorable two-year old son. Find out more about The Freshman 15 here.