Storm literally means a sudden outburst of bad weather or a violent outbreak. This can as well be equated to the trials and problems of this life.
Is it possible for a child of God to pass through the storms of this life? Permit me to say “Yes”, though some people may have negative answer to give. I was discussing with a pastor and he told me that Christians are not suppose to pass through difficulties in this life and I told him, I don’t buy the idea because, Israelites that are into covenant with God passed through difficulties on their way to the promised land. Some may still have their reasons to believe that Christian race is bed of roses because Christ has died for us. I’m not disputing that, but my bible has told me that there is no way, storms can be avoided. (Jn. 16: 33b)
In Mk. 4: 35 -41, Jesus was the one that initiated the idea that they should go over to the other side before they embarked on the journey. I can say that they are in the perfect will of God in that journey because they didn’t object the idea when Jesus raised it. Despite the fact that they obeyed God and Jesus went with them, they still encountered storm on their way. The Israelites, Paul, Joseph, et cetera, were in the perfect will of God but they all passed through SHAME,RIDICULE, DISAPPOINTMENT and DELAY when they were on earth. This is a pointer, that, even when someone is doing the will of God, there is still tendency for storm to arise, but the difference is that Jesus will be with you in that storm.
Jesus was asleep when the whole scenario was going on (Mk 4: 38) while the disciples were busy troubling themselves to quench the storm. At times, when we are passing through difficulties/storms of life, it seems that God is silent. After much fasting and prayer, it seems that heaven’s door is shut against us because the answer is not forth-coming. I want to assure you that Jesus is in that boat with you. He’s just waiting for an appointed time for him to arise and attend to your case and I want to agree with you, that the appointed time is “NOW”.
When Jesus arose, He tackled two things simultaneously before the situation was curtailed. He first of all addressed the wind before the sea. These two can be called the source and the recipient of the problem. Wind was the source of the storm in the disciple’s case while the sea was recipient. Your own source of storm can be finance, marriage, education, et cetera, while the recipient is your very self, family and people around you. Let us learn to handle the source by praying and addressing the issues. When you leave the source to tackle the recipient, you will end up compounding the whole issue. If it is financial storm, pray and ask God for help then step out in faith to look for what to do in order to get money. But when the aggression is transferred to people around you, the problem can not be solved rather you end up creating tension both for yourself and people around you.
I heard a story of a man of God that devoted his time counseling people while devil devoted his time using his wife to fight against him. At times she discourages people that come for counseling. One day, he was counseling someone and the wife started raining abusive words on him in the presence of the visitor, as if that was not enough, she went and brought water and emptied it on the husband. Can you guess what happened? That would have been a wonderful opportunity for some people to beat the devil out of the woman in the name of God, but he didn’t do that, rather he said, “Hmn, after the thunder comes the rain”. It takes a level of maturity for someone to be able to endure up to that. It is not easy. That I know, but that is the best way to handle a situation like that. Assuming the man started fighting with the wife, the devil would have done more harm than good, both to the man and the person that came for counseling. I pray that God will help me and all of us to get matured like the man in question.
I don’t know what your own storm is but one thing I know is that God is passing through it with you. (Isa. 43:2). He is not assuring us that we will not pass through storm but the assurance is that we will not be consumed by the storm. Let’s consider the tips that can help us during the storm:
1. Do not allow small disappointments to be magnified into huge problems. Learn not to fidget when you are confronted with a problem.
2. Know that storms of life can not be avoided. No matter how you try to avoid it, it must surely come and when it comes, don’t condemn yourself or start crying over past mistakes.
3. There is always a way out of every problem and every problem has an expiry date. Be attentive to the Holy Spirit to be able to know the expiry date and the way out. 1 Cor. 10:13
4. Gold comes out shinning after passing through fire and skies are most beautiful just after a storm. Your glory, fame and testimony are about to be announced, so don’t give up.
