I want to continue with Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus gave orders to get into the boat (Matthew 8:18). So they followed Him into the boat, and into a storm.  After the storm, they reached the “other side”. Matthew 8:28 tells us that on the “other side” were the demon-possessed men in the Gadarenes. We’re going to discuss that passage later.

Up to this point in time, the disciples had been following Jesus in fairly calm waters, so to speak. Some healings, some teachings, and a lot of crowds. Nothing too strenuous. But suddenly, they have been led into a storm. Not just any storm, but a fierce storm that came with no warning. We can go a couple of ways here. We can say that Jesus knew the storm was coming, so He took His followers into it in order to show them that He can calm the storm. We could say that Jesus caused the storm, for the same reason. We could also say that the enemy knew, or at least suspected, where Jesus was heading and what He would do there, so he caused the storm in an attempt to thwart the plan.

We could, in fact, spend copious amounts of time and energy trying to figure out where the storm came from, and why it came. We could even throw around the idea that the disciples caused the storm by their own lack of faith (a stretch, I admit).

In the end, two facts remain. Jesus led them into a storm, and the storm served a purpose. Everything else is really just fodder for argument that takes up time and energy, and gets us nowhere. And this, unfortunately, is where many storm dwellers live. Trying so hard to figure it out and find a way out. They become exhausted and angry, and they lose hope. They blame themselves, they blame others, and they blame God. And the storm rages on.

When this storm hit my life, I did spend time trying to figure it out. Why did it come? Who sent it? Was it from God or the devil? Had I done something wrong? What would be the best way out of it? Precious time wasted on questions that really don’t matter, the answers to which will not make this storm one bit less than it is. I am not the commander of any storm, so knowing all these answers won’t help. I only need one answer, and His name is Jesus. The great commander of the winds and waves that buffet my life.

I will waste not one more minute trying to psychoanalyze this storm, or in trying to find my own way out of it. I won’t spend the breath it takes to feel bad about the boat I’m in. I will choose instead to be thankful that I followed Jesus onto this boat. I will rest in the knowledge that I sail with the Commander of all storms, that this storm has a particular purpose in my life, and that sooner or later, we will get to the “other side”.

Are you a storm dweller? Have you been chasing after answers to the wind and rain that is blowing your life apart? Your answer is Jesus. He is the only One who can bring calm to chaos and command the storm in your life. I want to encourage you that He is fully aware of your storm and fully capable of bringing it into submission to Him. Not to you, to Him.  It doesn’t matter why the storm came. All that matters is that there is only One that it must obey.  Call on Jesus, get behind Him, and He will calm your storm and get you to the other side.