“Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ ” Matthew 14:31 (ESV)

Have you ever felt a strong sense of urgency to change your circumstances yet you simply cannot?

I definitely have.

Over the last several years, I’ve experienced one storm after another. And as if that weren’t enough, the storms began to organize and spawn a system that began producing storms within storms. 

Waves of panic left me desperate to find shelter by trying to fix everything myself. But no matter how hard I tried, nothing ever worked out.

Mornings were filled with pleading prayers for God to remove the hardships I was facing. 

Nights spent wrestling with the enemy’s wicked whispers of doubt robbed any chance of peaceful sleep. 

With each passing day, I’d wake up hoping that today would be the day the dark, tumultuous storm clouds would finally move out and permit the sun to take back its rightful place.

But with no relief in sight, I found myself rowing against the waves in a sea of hopelessness.

And this is exactly where we find the disciples in the gospel stories of Jesus walking on water. I’d heard the story for years, but as I dug deeper, God began to unpack some spiritual truths about our storms.

1. Jesus knew He was sending His disciples into a storm. But He also knew their destiny, our destiny, is to make it out to the other side. (Mark 6:45) 

2. Jesus watched them struggle rowing across the sea from His position on the mountain and in the early morning hours, He walks on water to meet them at their boat. Jesus sees us in the midst of our storms and He will meet us there. (Mark 6:48)

3. Consumed with fear, the disciples think they see a ghost until Jesus reassures them it’s Him. Jesus will calm our fears. (Mark 6:50)

4. Peter’s impulsive faith brings his feet to the water but begins to sink because of his doubts and fears. Jesus steadies him and questions his doubt. Jesus knows that storms shape our faith and trust drowning out any future doubt. (Matthew 14:28-31)

5. When Jesus stepped into the boat, the winds ceased. No matter how hard we try, only Jesus calms our storm. (Matthew 14:32)

6. The disciples worshiped Him and finally realized He was the Son of God. Sometimes Jesus allows us to suffer through a storm so we recognize our need for Him in our life. (Matthew 14:33)

Jesus didn’t immediately lead me out of my storms. But as I started spending more and more time in His Word, He taught me to simply trust Him through my storms. And it’s here where we can turn our worries into worship and praise.

Friend, I have no idea what kind of storm you are staring in the face today. But what I do know is that Jesus sees you. He’s meeting you there. He’s ready to strengthen your faith. And He’s worthy to be trusted. 

Let’s pray together today.

Jesus, we’re at the end of our own strength as we try and navigate the stormy waters of our lives. We’re ready to surrender these oars and anchor our trust in You. We’re exhausted and we need Your inner peace as we lay down our heads tonight. Help us strengthen our faith as we make reading Your Word a daily priority. Because Lord when we step out onto the waters of trust, we don’t want to sink from fear. We don’t want to doubt Your goodness. We want to keep our heads held high as we walk straight into Your arms. It’s in Your name we pray, Amen.

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