Are you facing a storm in your life right now? Everyday storms pop up without us being prepared for them. I’ve been following the tornado activity over the past several days stretching from Texas up through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, Strong thunderstorms have been dropping baseball and softball size hail. During the day it is clear and bright, but as afternoon and evening come, suddenly cumulonimbus clouds begin to build. Wall clouds appear at the bottoms of the cumulonimbus clouds. Rotation begins and before long a tornado touches down, bringing with it destruction.
I’ve been riding my motorcycle when suddenly the skies let loose. I’ve ridden in small hail, rain so hard you can barely see through it, and on roads with 3 inches of water flowing down them like a river. I’ve ridden with others where the only thing I could see was their taillight. I couldn’t see the pavement markings or the road’s edge. I grip my handlebars extra tight during these times. These are not pleasant enjoyable rides.
There are many other storms in life as well. Maybe we have just been diagnosed with cancer or some other physical issue. We may have survived and accident but have many broken bones or torn tendons. We may have just recently lost a spouse or child or close friend. Maybe we are facing a serious financial crisis and don’t know how we are going to get through it. Many have lost their entire house do to storm or fire. We face storms in life constantly.
As I think about these storms I remember when Jesus and his disciples faced a severe storm. Read with me Mark 4:35-41 “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
The disciples thought they were going to die for sure. They woke Jesus up. He wasn’t afraid of the storm; he just commanded the sea to stop its turmoil. Was there in fact a storm? Yes! Did most everyone panic? Yes! How did Jesus react through the storm? He simply slept through it and when awakened by those who were afraid, he simply said, “Peace! Be still!”
The storms we face in this life can be powerful. They have the potential of destruction. When we know the Lord, our attitude should be one of faith that the Lord is in control just as he was when He was in the boat with his disciples. I think of John 16 where Jesus is speaking of the time of his trial and crucifixion. He speaks of the Father’s love. In verse 32 we read, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Despite being alone as far as his friends and disciples was concerned, He knows His Father’s love and presence.
What comes next in John 16:33 should give us encouragement and comfort. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus promises peace in a world filled with storms. Why? Because He has overcome the world.
All that I have written is fine and good, but when the storms come, I still grip my handlebars and ride with a certain amount of fear. When I fall and tear the tendons in both legs I tend to panic because it has left me totally disabled. When I fall and break my back, in my mind I see my life as I know it, over. But then I remember those words of Jesus, “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Then a peace comes over me reminding me that Jesus has overcome the world and all the problems we face. That doesn’t mean we won’t go through the storms, but we will be able to face them knowing all will be well.
As you read what I have written you probably think “PK has his act together. He is so spiritual.” Let me assure you I struggle through my storms just like you do. I worry, I get upset but I remember what is written in Romans 14:7-8, “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”
Storms, yes, they will come, “But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
In Christ,
David ‘PK’ VanderKlay