Storms of Life

Most of us start out in our early years dreaming of some kind of adventure in life: job, relationship, hobby, etc. If those dreams are fed, and halfway realistic, then they can become our reality. However, there are plenty of obstacles that get in the way of any kind of dream.

In Scripture, we read of some men (apostles) who must have felt that what Jesus was promoting fulfilled some kind of dream for them. He invited them to “come follow Me,” and they did it! That first step required a lot of faith and guts. But that’s the power of Scripture… “living and active” Hebrews 4:12. That means it’s more than just a moral guide and “chastening rod.” It’s motivational and inspirational! (Romans 15:4; Acts 8:8; 13:52; 16:34) It brings life and joy!

But even in the greatest moments of joy, there can be storms that arise. Early on in Jesus’ ministry, after sharing the joys of being part of the Kingdom of God, He took his disciples across the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile territory. He had already given a great lesson on planting seeds and being a light; now it was time to show them how to do it. That’s when a storm blew in—shaking the joy of the followers and causing them to focus on what seemed to be a dire situation.

After Jesus calms the storm, the disciples say, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him.” (Luke 8:25). But calming storms was just the beginning (much like His words to Nathanael in John 1:50). They would soon encounter a demon-possessed man, who according to Mark 5:4 was “unable to be subdued”—yet Jesus brought life! Then they would meet a woman that had suffered at the hands of doctors (who couldn’t heal her)—yet Jesus brought life! Then, He raised a dead girl! Jesus brought life!

Perhaps these encounters helped the apostles’ doubts and fears that arose from leaving everything to follow Jesus. We all have storms that rock us to our core and cause us to question why we’re doing what we’re doing, and like the apostles, we may have to wait a little bit to have our doubts removed. Jesus showed them (and us) God’s power over what seems impossible. In the end, their faith was strengthened. Peter exclaims in Luke 9:20, “You are the Messiah!” This was a statement that he may not have been able to make prior to his experience in the storm.

We all face storms in life, but storms can reveal our distorted view of our problems, ourselves, and even Jesus himself. The more we trust Him in our current storms, the more we’ll be able to trust Him in the next storm.