I was recently reading a devotional that focused on Mark 4:37–41, the well-known passage of Scripture in which Christ appears to sleep through most of a storm so intense that it nearly swamps the boat He is in. As I was reading, the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder. I have learned that when He does that, I need to sit up and take notice. The conversation we had sounded something like this:

Holy Spirit: You know that wasn’t the only time the disciples had to cross the sea in a terrible storm.

Me: You’re right. It was a terrible storm Christ was walking through when He invited Peter to walk on the water with Him.

Holy Spirit: Huh! Imagine that. I wonder if there is a common thread there from which we can learn.

Me: Hmmmmm….

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to find the Creator of the universe talking to me just like that. Inevitably, He leaves me with a very poignant question, allowing me to search and determine the answer on my own. I like that, don’t you?

Back to the storms.

What I concluded was that, first, God wanted to teach the disciples to trust Him. God had a definite mission for them, and it had not yet been accomplished. Nothing could stand in the way of His accomplishing that mission, not even death itself.

When I was twelve, God clearly spoke directly to me, telling me that I would go to Russia. I was so certain I would be going to Russia that I immediately left my bedroom and told my parents I needed to learn Russian to prepare for the trip. I also knew intuitively that there was no way I could die before that mission had been accomplished.

For me, I believe that trust was a gift with which God miraculously graced me. From the moment God spoke it, I knew it would happen. I wish I could say I have approached all the storms in my life that way, but I confess that has not been the case.

In the second storm, described in Mark 6:45–51 and Matthew 14:22–33, God taught the disciples that He would provide everything needed to accomplish the mission—even if accomplishing it required them to walk on water—as long as they kept their focus on Him.

I was eleven when I approached what I can only call a “wall” of poison ivy. It felt like it stretched for miles in either direction, and my goal was on the other side of that wall. Obviously, this was the perfect time to demonstrate God’s power! I sucked it up, pushed through the wall of poison ivy, and gave a doctor the opportunity to see my foolishness firsthand. He had never seen such a terrible case of poison ivy.

God used my foolishness as an opportunity to teach me about His goals and my goals, and how to tell the difference. As a side note, it took several other opportunities for me to learn this lesson. I can now say that it has everything to do with keeping my eyes on Him and His purposes.

In conclusion, allow me to say this: life is always going to bring us storms, and they will often arrive at what seems to be the worst possible moment. That is part of living in a fallen world.

But these two accounts remind us that we can rise above those storms. We can always trust God to bring us through them. Sometimes He may even choose to provide for us in ways that seem as impossible as walking on water. Our responsibility is to keep our focus on Him.



If you are going through a particularly difficult storm right now, let me encourage you to ignore the waves and focus instead on your relationship with God. Our heavenly Father will always hold you in the palm of His hand and sustain you.