Storms: God’s Agents of Change

22 Now it happened on a certain day that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

Luke 8:22-24

Why is it that we think storms are bad? Well, we hear of the destruction they bring, mostly from the media, but also from word of mouth. I want to invite you to look at storms with new eyes. In Luke 8:22-24, we read that Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So, they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon, a fierce storm came down upon the lake. The boat was filling with water, and their perspective told them they were in real danger. The disciples woke Jesus up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly, the storm stopped, and all was calm. If we look at this story carefully, we see there’s a storm, but I see a promise too. I see Jesus saying, "Let’s go to the other side." In other words, if Jesus said it that means no storm can stop you. The disciples should have remembered what Jesus said and told the storm to muzzle up; in other words, “Shut up, storm,” knowing they were going to the other side. Let’s stop complicating God’s promises with our solutions!

Last I heard, Jesus took the sting from death. So why panic and freak out about a storm? After all, a storm isn’t supposed to bring us to a bad place in our life, even if it leads to death. If we know that our end here on earth is only the beginning of our eternity with Jesus, why do we consider death such a bad thing? 

Now, don’t think I’m suggesting that there should be no compassion or mourning for those who have passed on, but should we not celebrate someone going to glory? When someone dies, the real concern is whether he or she received salvation through faith in Jesus.

When I scale my life to all of creation, I laugh, realizing how we think our storms are bigger than the universe at times. I bet if we had a front-row seat to watch the birth of creation, we would have thought it was a storm of mass destruction when really, it was creation forming. God always brings something good from the storms in our lives. He brings order from chaos.

Call to action

Describe how the latest storm in your life made you feel. Did you call out to Jesus to bring peace or did you cry out in fear?