After the morning teaching sessions in Accra, Ghana, our team enjoyed a relaxed lunch. Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck within feet of the concrete block restaurant shaking the building. For the next hour, with the peels of lightning, torrents of rain, and violent wind all we could do was drink tea and wait. With a momentary break, we ran for our car. Limbs, trees, and roof tops littered the ground. “Looks like a tornado hit.” But my African host responded, “We don’t have tornadoes in Ghana.” At the same moment, I looked up and saw five tornado funnels dropping out of the storm cell. “Then, what is that, and that, and that . . . ?” He was shocked and amazed.
I have yet to visit a country without some kind of weather related storms. Storms are a fact of living in a fallen world. If people move from the east coast of USA to escape hurricanes, they might then face the tornadoes of mid-west or earthquakes and forest fires of California. We may find places where fewer storms come, but storms are inevitable at some point everywhere. Another result of living in a sinful world is the storms of life. Scripture often compares the times of trouble we encounter in life to the storms of nature.
Some believe the false notion that when they receive Christ they will live free from storms. Jesus warned, in the world you have tribulation (John 16:33). He compared faith and acting on His word to two men who each built a house. One dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built (Luk 6:48). The second man did not act accordingly and when the storm hit, his house collapsed (v49). The key word for this thought is ‘when’. Jesus did not say ‘if’ storms come.
I have always enjoyed performing weddings, a Christian young man, and young woman standing before me with nothing but hopes and dreams glowing from their faces. At that moment, they cannot imagine a storm ever taking place in their marriage. People look at my wife and me now within a year of approaching 45 years together and think we must have never experienced any problems. Or they see us with our children and their families thinking how wonderful it must have been to grow up in our house. We laugh if they make such a comment and tell them “If you only knew.” Thank the Lord, we heard His word, acted on it, and laid a solid foundation in Christ.
Not just marriages and families go through stormy periods. We encounter them in our jobs, our careers, our health, our finances, our ministries, our church, and our nation. The outcome depends on the foundation we have laid. Laying the foundation for a house takes almost as long as building the structure and not something we can hurriedly construct overnight. Meteorologists have developed better tools for forecasting hurricanes giving people time to prepare. Yet, as the storm in Ghana, some hit without warning with no time for preparation.
Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat (Matt 8:24 NIV). Jesus was asleep. These experienced sailors overcome with fear panicked and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown! “(v25 NIV). The Message Bible best captures Jesus’ response to the sudden awakening. Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?” (v26 MSG). The word translated ‘coward’ also ‘afraid’ in other versions, used only three times in the New Testament, carries a strong emphasis.
Note the lessons here. Storms are like exams in school. It allowed the disciples to see a weak area where they needed to grow in faith. They forgot who was in the boat with them and forgot Jesus directed them to cross the lake, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake” (Luke 8:22). During our storms, we should remember our foundation and reassure ourselves, “Jesus is in my boat. He sent me this way.” We can also rest in the multiple promises in scripture that He will not send us anywhere He cannot keep us and bring us to the other side. Out of this experience, the disciples grew in their knowledge of Jesus. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Mat 8:27).You can apply these lessons to every storm you ever encounter—marriage, family, health, job, career, finances, relationships, ministries, nation, and any other setting in life where the Lord has directed you.
We were tempted to run out of the restaurant, flee through rain, wind, and lightning to our car. Yet, we knew this concrete building was secure. We knew we were in Ghana on a mission from God. We also knew storms do not last forever and calm would return. 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 (Psa 107:28, 29).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Storms will come, but remember who is in your boat—Jesus and He is God and He is your foundation, refuge, shelter, hiding place, and fortress.