Jesus calms the storm.  He calmed a storm on the sea of Galilee and Jesus can calm your storms too.  Let’s begin our trek through whatever storm you may be facing, by remembering, that we all have storms in life.  Storms of sickness, storms of fear, storms of despair, anger, anxiety and more.  Sometimes these storms suddenly overwhelm us, and once in a while we see them coming, but every single storm has one thing in common:  They can make us feel small and powerless.

You see, we are right to feel small inside a storm, because in the face of life’s storms we truly are small.  We see ominous dark clouds or listen to the roar of thunder and we cannot help but feel that way. In the same way, a bad phone call from a doctor, a harsh or offensive comment from friend or a financial setback can be as blinding as lightning that explodes before us.  Once again, we can feel helpless as we cry out to Jesus, “Please calm this storm in my life.”

One time my friend, Arlen, and I found ourselves flying in a remote area near the Minnesota/Canada border through a winter storm.  It was a blizzard so thick that it literally smothered our airplane’s windshield, like we were soaring through a bag of white sugar. Our eyes were on the instruments as our single engine plane forged ahead, when suddenly, the pitot tube plugged with snow and all our gyroscopic instruments went dead.  Worse than that, the heavy iron ore content in the region caused our magnetic compass to spin, acting as a false indicator, almost as if we were in a corkscrew dive toward earth.  

My storm reminds me when Jesus encouraged Peter to get out of his boat and walk toward him.  Amazingly, while Peter focused his faith on Jesus, he walked on water!  But when Peter’s faith diminished in favor of the wind and waves, he became afraid and began to sink, until he cried out to Jesus who saved him (Mt 14:29-31).

Notice when Peter relied on the strength of his faith instead of the fear in his heart, he was able to do the impossible. Perhaps this is one reason why the apostle Paul encourages us to use our brains when it comes to our faith. Paul calls us “to be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).  In other words, Paul calls us to think in regards to our faith, and our faith cannot help but to grow.

And this is the truth for you and for me today – no matter what kind of storm we find ourselves in. We are reminded not to give way to our emotions, not to succumb to our fears, and not to focus on our circumstances, but to think.  To transform our minds and rely on our faith – faith that is strong and well thought through – long before any storms arrive.

This is what pilots do when they learn to fly.  They practice.  They study problems that other pilots have faced, so they can be prepared.  To be prepared to think our way through those problems!  Just as we need to be prepared for tomorrows storms by spending time today with Jesus and his Word.   So our faith wins over our fears.  

As for my blizzard storm, Arlen and I prayed for Jesus to calm that storm while three simultaneous things happened.  First, God’s angels held our plane in the sky, the same way that Jesus held Peter above the water.  Second, I used a radio signal called a DME to keep us flying close to the airport.  And third, we kept flicking the airport’s lights off and on until we could see the runway and what a smooth landing we had!

Whatever storm you’re caught in right now, I hope my story encourages you to keep your eyes on Jesus. Instead of becoming overwhelmed, let’s choose to think.  To stay the course and be faithful to him. And while we are looking to Jesus, let’s keep others in our prayers. I don’t know where I would have ended up without the prayers of my friend Arlen.