"Fear Not; I am with Thee."

In Matthew 8, the Savior performs miracles and healings in the presence of His disciples. And, yet, not much later in the chapter, we read that the Savior and His disciples are traveling on a ship when they're caught in a storm. The storm is so terrible that the disciples fear for their lives, waking the Savior and asking Him to save them. The Savior responds in verse 26, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" His disciples were in His presence regularly observing His miraculous power. But, they were still fearful!

Fear is a natural response that can protect us from danger. We fear getting burned on a fire which protects us from being burned. But, some fear immobilizes us and prevents us from moving forward with faith, such as the fear of failure or the fear of heartache. How can we choose to have more faith and less fear, especially in the storms of our lives? We can eliminate fear from our lives if we learn to trust the Lord. We need to learn to trust that whatever Heavenly Father allows to happen is a part of His plan.

Elder Stanley Ellis stated:

"The question 'Do we trust Him?' may be better stated, 'Do we have the faith to trust Him?'

Do we have the faith to trust His promises regarding tithing that with 90 percent of our increase plus the Lord’s help, we are better off than with 100 percent on our own?

Do we have sufficient faith to trust that He will visit us in our afflictions (see Mosiah 24:14), that He will contend with those that contend with us (see Isaiah 49:25; 2 Nephi 6:17), and that He will consecrate our afflictions for our gain? (see 2 Nephi 2:2).

Will we exercise the faith necessary to keep His commandments so He can bless us both temporally and spiritually? And will we continue faithful to the end so that He can receive us into His presence? (see Mosiah 2:41).

Brothers and sisters, we can have the faith to trust Him! He wants what is best for us (see Moses 1:39). He will answer our prayers (see D&C 112:10). He will keep His promises (see D&C 1:38). He has the power to keep those promises (see Alma 37:16). He knows everything! And most important, He knows what is best (see Isaiah 55:8–9)."

We can learn to replace our fear with faith when we learn to trust the Lord. We don't need to be afraid that we won't be able to pay our rent if we pay our tithing this month if we trust the Lord. We don't need to be afraid that we aren't strong enough to handle our trials if we trust that the Lord wants us to have this experience.