... but Sometimes He Lets the Storm Rage and Calms His Child Instead

In the last post, we took a look at Jesus calming the storm, but we were never promised that He would calm every storm. Certainly there are times when our personal struggles have to be endured. We lose loved ones, people get divorced, crimes are committed against the innocent, and the list goes on.

John 14:26 and 27 says, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

In one of the last conversations that Jesus has with His disciples, He doesn't promise that they'll have an easy go of it. He doesn't say that their lives will be made comfortable because the work they do is for the Lord. In fact, many of the disciples will suffer and die painful deaths Rather than promise them the comfort of the here and now, He tells them that He doesn't work the way the world does.

What about that last line though? Why does He tell them not to be troubled or afraid? I think that it's because He knows there are things coming that a normal person would be troubled or afraid of. In one sense, there's a fear of Him not being there. He did calm the storm, He did feed the 5000, but now they will have to move forward in faith without the instant reminder of who He is when doubt creeps in. On the other side of the coin, He knows that they are going to face increasingly hostile and violent opposition.

To deal with all of what is coming, He doesn't leave them with a pile of money, maps with secret passageways to safety, or a list of people who they can trust to help them. He leaves them the Spirit. God as a human is going back to Heaven, but they are not being left alone, they now being filled in their own hearts with God Himself. He is leaving them with Himself in a new form; a form that will remind them of the promises and the hope of an eternity with Him, a form that will strengthen them for the trials and give them peace in the midst of the storm. This is the very same Spirit that lives in us and offers the same peace, strength, and hope.

So yes, sometimes God does calm the storm, but sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child instead. Next time you can't find God in your struggle, look at yourself instead of the circumstance - how is He calming and strengthening you to be able to push forward through it? Who has He put in the boat with you to remind you of His promises?