We are all going to encounter storms in life. Storms are part of the weather of the universe—and they exist in the spiritual world as well as the natural world.
We often describe suffering as a storm. Trials of all shapes are things we weather.
Although a sailor’s poor decisions may result in his ship caught in a storm, storms also arise in the sea unforeseen, at no fault of the sailor. Storms are a part of the world’s weather.
What hope do we have as we sail life’s sea knowing that storms will come upon us?
As much as we may long to be airlifted out of a storm by a heavenly coast guard, God has provided sufficiently for his children to sail through the storms that come our way.
How does God’s Word, the Bible, equip us to navigate the storms of life?
God Controls the Wind and the Waves
Well, the first thing it helps us understand is that life’s storms are governed by the Creator, who has authority over all things. No storm arises outside his jurisdiction. He does not explain his hand in the weather, but he tells us that the seas ultimately are obedient to his voice (Mark 4:39; Psalm 135:5-7).
Navigators do no good obsessing over the source of storms, nor in trying to understand how the God of heaven rules the weather. Rather, their energy should be focused on getting through the storms, comforted by the fact that the storms are subservient to their Maker and have no will of their own. So it is with us in the storms of life.
We must understand from the Bible’s testimony that the seas we sail, however inscrutable to us, are no mystery to God, but ebb and flow and churn and hush according to his will.
God Supplies Help for the Storms of Life
Second, as we sail through life’s storms, we must remember that God has supplied us with two aids—one above, and one below.
Above us, littering the heavens, we see the stars. Stars orient sailors. So God has given us the promises of Scripture to orient us when we fear the wind has driven us off course and when the night hides a way forward. God has given us his precious Word to orient us in our suffering and help us navigate life’s storms.
Below us, our ships can drop a heavy anchor—stabilizing us in the severest swells of suffering. Christ is the anchor for our souls, the ultimate manifestation of God’s goodness and love (Hebrews 6:19). The salvation offered to us in Jesus—the surest promise of God to his people of his love and goodwill toward them—keeps our ship steady.
So when storms come, we must drop our anchor. We set our hope in the goodness and love of God demonstrated to us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. And we must keep looking up, fixed on the stars, the promises of God, so that we don’t lose our way.
God Is with Us in the Storms of Life
A sailor’s greatest comfort is not in what’s above him, nor what’s below him, for in the severest storms, he may lose sight of both these things while drenched in waves, drained of strength, and desperate just to stay alive.
Our greatest comfort in life’s storms is who is beside us—our Captain, Jesus. He has weathered the worst storm—the storm of God’s wrath toward sin—and he let it crush him for our sake so that he might steer our ships safely onto the shores of eternity.
As one who was himself pummeled and drowned by the raging sea, he has compassion on our faint hearts. Our exhaustion doesn’t surprise him. He has promised his company to every one of his children as we sail life’s seas. He will direct us to safety—he will not let us be shipwrecked and drowned. Our story ends on eternity’s shores, where we will be welcomed into our Captain’s kingdom.
The Bible reveals to us the character of our Captain, the journeys he has accompanied fellow sailors on, the ultimate storm that he weathered for our sake, and his constant promise to be an ever-present help in every storm. His presence is our peace.
What Does God Promise Me in the Storms of Life?
The Bible doesn’t tell us when each storm will pass, how long we will have to endure them, or why they came to us when, where, and in the intensity in which they did.
But it does tell us a story—a story about why storms exist, about our Captain’s suffering, about how we came to be sailing heavenward, and about how to best take care of our ships and sail effectively onward as far as it’s up to us.
God does not intend to break our ships on the rough seas, but to make us sturdy sailors. Our Captain desires that we come to know him intimately through the storms we weather together—to know him better than if we had never endured a storm (Philippians 3:10).
So, as you think about life’s storms, ask yourself these things: Do you know your ship is headed heavenward? Do you have life’s Captain with you in the boat—do you know Jesus? Do you look to God’s Word as your guide? Have you come to see the love God has for you so that you may drop that anchor when the waves get big?