What is more priceless than a personal relationship with God!   Having a personal relationship with God means having a faithful friend who is always there, always loving, and always knows just what to do.

And what could be more important to have when the storms of life hit? When the world feels overwhelming?  Can we even imagine how scary life would be if we had to navigate our storms by ourselves, without God, and we didn’t know which way to go?

These thoughts remind me of a time when I was in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, on the Minnesota Canada border enjoying some quiet time with God.  The sunny sky above me deeply contrasted with the dark storm clouds that blotted out all light in the distant horizon.  From my camp, high on a hill that overlooked a lake, I watched the wind blow a giant storm toward me.  

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, three canoes rounded the bend in the lake just below me.  The waves pushed the canoes forward and they were too far away for me to warn them of the storm.  I watched helplessly, as the seemingly unaware boy scouts paddled past my camp while their leader slept in the middle of a canoe.  Their canoes slithered, like a snake sliding left to right through the water as the boys struggled in their efforts to make them go straight.  Everyone wore life jackets and I couldn’t help but notice how some of them held their canoe paddles like shovels, and some like oars on a row boat.

​Soon, the wind started to howl and whipped the water into whitecaps across the big lake. I looked out with my binoculars and saw the three canoes vanish into three different directions – unable to maintain course against the power of the waves.

No doubt the boys would have been wet, cold and scared. It was near certain that each canoe would eventually swamp against a rocky shore where they would be forced to spend the stormy night – unsheltered, and all alone in the dark woods. It would be a long, cold and truly hellish way to learn about the great outdoors.

Like these boys, many of us have experienced dark and troubled times when we’ve been overwhelmed by storms in life. Without being trite, let’s consider some practical advice to manage those storms:

It might also be wise to consider the Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.” Those boys could have handled even the worst wind and waves if only they had taken the time to learn to paddle a canoe properly, using the appropriate “J-strokes,” “C-strokes” and draw strokes.

Perhaps we too can be better prepared for the inevitable storms that will come into our lives. To do so, we need to take the time – in advance of the storm – to learn the most important stroke of all: how to have a deep and personal relationship with God.

Jesus described the wise man, the man who was prepared and ready for the storm, as someone who built his house upon the rock of God’s Word. When we are truly anchored in Jesus, we can and will survive absolutely any storm that comes our way.