Bulletin Articles
Trusting God Through the Storms
Storms can be frightening. Lightning and thunder can be a bit terrifying when it gets close. Flood waters can overwhelm, winds can level, and human beings can only run and hide. We wonder why at times, but we are reminded that we are not the ones who control nature. We are humbled as we find ourselves under the power of what nature can do.
Yet there is One far more powerful than nature because He is the One “who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth” (Acts 17:24). He is the One who “enclosed the sea with doors,” placed boundaries upon it said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop’” (Job 38:8-11). This is the God who “measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair of scales” (Isa 40:12).
We often worry about what we cannot change, yet that worry can become misplaced because, after all, “who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:27). There often seems to be a correlation between the amount of worry we have over against how much we learn to trust God. We do not control nature, but we can trust the One who does. This doesn’t make it easy, but it does remind us of the importance of keeping a perspective that looks beyond what we physically see.
Two passages connect thoughts to remind us that we need to trust God through the storms we face (physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally):
1. Psalm 107 speaks of those who had rebelled against God, then shows that they found relief and deliverance when they trusted in God. Verses 23-30 mention those who go down in ships and saw the wonders of the Lord, becoming frightened when storms arose in the seas. They were “at their wit’s end,” and the text continues:
“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses.
He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven” (Vv. 28-30).
2. Mark 4:35-41 describes the disciples getting into a boat on the Sea of Galilee. A fierce wind arose and the waves were breaking over the side of the boat. While the disciples became frightened, Jesus was asleep. The disciples woke Him up: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The reader might notice the connection between these two passages as the events of Mark 4 echo what we find in Psalm 107. In both passages, we see these similarities: people are in boats; a storm arises; they became afraid (courage melted away); they cried to the Lord for help; the Lord stills the storm and the waters are quiet. In Psalm 107, Yahweh has power over nature and quiet the storms. Notice, then, how the Mark 4 account ends: “They became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’” (v. 41)
Here is a miracle worked by Jesus wherein Jesus is doing things that God does. He is showing His power over nature. Who is this? This is God in the flesh, and this miracle demonstrated once again that “God with us” is fulfilled in Christ. This should not now be a surprise, for Scripture also shows that all things were in fact made through Jesus: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3); “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16). Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, His power over nature is intrinsic. He made it.
Who, then, shall we trust when the storms hit? As I write this, we await a powerful hurricane, named Milton, heading in our direction. We don’t know yet what the result will be, though we expect it to be serious. We don’t always understand why storms like this come, but we need (I need) to be reminded that God holds the waters in the hollow of His hand. Whether He quiets the storm sooner or later we do not know. Whether He delivers now or later, we can trust that He alone is in the position of knowing all the what’s, when’s, why’s, and how’s. Deliverance, for us, is not simply a physical event; it is an eternal blessing fully realized in His presence. May God help us to place our trust in Him through the storms.
