Protecting Storms

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. . . . Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.

— Matthew 14:22, 24

 

The Gospel of John records the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, which was Jesus' most popular miracle. The people loved it so much that afterward, they came by force to make Jesus their king. But Jesus knew their hearts were wrong. He knew they didn't really want Him to be their Lord and Master; they just wanted a free lunch from that point on.

Perfecting Storms

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

— 2 Corinthians 4:17–18

 

Probably the most common storms we face in life are perfecting storms. These storms come into our lives as a result of following Jesus. But God has a work He wants to do and a desired result that He wants to produce in these storms. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 reminds us, "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!"

Storms will come, and in the midst of them, God is doing a work. Sometimes you can see the work, and sometimes you can't. Sometimes that work is simply to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. Quite honestly, a lot of storms are inexplicable. And when you get to heaven, you will understand why God allowed that storm and why that particular difficulty lasted so long. We can't control our universe. (I have tried, and it doesn't work.) We can't say when a storm will start or when a storm will stop. All we can do is react to that storm.