Good morning everyone, as I was taking my morning shower this morning and the water rained down on my head. God put a thought in my mind. We have to trust Jesus through the storm.

Sounds poetic, sounds stoic, sounds beautiful… But what does that mean?

There is an example in the Bible of people trusting Jesus, specifically his disciples, trusting him through an actual storm; but reading deeper into the passage gives me a different message. Let’s look at it together…shall we?

Matthew 8:23-27: And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

In this passage, Jesus and his disciples board a boat, and as they are sailing, a violent storm begins to barrage the boat with waves. In fear, the disciples run to Jesus who was himself taking a nap and beg him to save them, declaring that they are about to die. Awakened from his nap, Jesus goes onto the deck of the ship, and with just a few words, ends the storm, calming both the wind and the sea. He then questions the apostles about their fear and lack of faith.

If you read it on a surface level, this passage seems like it’s just a display of Jesus’ divine power. However, to my eyes, it’s much more than that. It’s a declaration that he himself arranged to show not only his disciples of the present time but to us in the future that if we follow him, there’s nothing to fear.

When I read this passage, I think of life. I think of the many things that can and will happen throughout our lives. Getting a new job, losing that job… Falling in love, losing that love… Getting rich, being poor… Being healthy, being terminally ill…. I think of any and all of the curveballs that life can show us whenever I hear this passage.

This passage shows me that no matter what happens…I can trust Jesus. Why? Because he in his infinite power and wisdom has everything under control.

As I have said in previous articles, our lives are like the refiners fire. They are meant to help form us into what God wants us to be.  Each and every circumstance, occurrence and or happening all takes place for a single reason. That reason is to change us into who God wants us to be.

Someone who is reading this right now may be thinking “what in the world are you talking about? My life has been nothing but difficult.” to that statement I present some questions: Have you consistently gone to God in prayer for all of these difficulties and if you have, have you abided by his answer? Have you obeyed his words?

Think back to the image of the storm that I previously mentioned. You’re in a boat getting pummeled violently by waves, you think your boat is about to sink, that you’re about to die. Is that what your life feels like right now? If it is, I ask you, are you leaning on Jesus? Are you trusting him? Are you trusting that he is who he says he is and that he will bring you through this season of difficulty, this violent storm, this raging fire? “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” 

Consider a diamond, how is it formed? A diamond is formed from a lump of coal that is under constant, extreme heat, and intense pressure. That’s what God is doing with us throughout our entire lives. He’s putting us through just the right amount of heat and pressure to turn us into beautiful diamonds. He took us from lumps of dirt, worthless pieces of earth and is making us into beautiful precious diamonds. That takes stress, that takes pain, that takes uncertainty, that takes persecution, that takes danger, that takes fear and in some cases it takes staring death right in the face. In all cases, though… It takes faith.

In order for us to come out of this pressure, this refiners fire, and become the beautiful diamonds he made us to be, we must take Jesus hand and let him lead us through it. We have to stay close to the son of God. We have to listen to and obey everything he says. We have to trust in him in all ways for always. Because he’s the only one who can lead us through life and have us come out exactly as we are supposed to be.

Everything about our entire lives was written out by God before the foundations of the Earth were made. He knows exactly what’s gonna happen in your life just as he does mine.

We don’t know what’s going to happen but he does. He’s just waiting for us to surrender our free will to him, to trust him and obey him.

While we walk through the fire, while we face the storm… He is with us. We are never alone, so there is no reason for us to fear.  

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Trust in God, seek his face in everything, lean on him instead of on your own understanding and when the time is right, your storm will end, you will step out of the fire and you will be the beautiful diamond you were created to be.

-MB