Trusting God in the Storm | Steuart Payne | 3rd April 2022

Today Ps Steu speaks about the storms in our lives and how we can trust God during difficult times. What we do when a storm occurs makes all the difference. We need to keep trusting God. The key bible verse for today is the story in Mark 4, 35-40 where Jesus calms the storm when the wind makes the waves come over the side of the boat. The disciples woke Jesus who was sleeping, he immediately rebuked the wind, spoke to the waves and all was calm. He also asked them why they had little faith!

Interestingly, the boat was full of believers, but they seemed not to act as if they believed! Maybe they were more reliant on their own strength and skills to defeat the situation….some of us act like this, some hide, some freak out with great drama. Jesus had the perfect response; he was at perfect peace in this situation – He was trusting in God. We need to act similarly as we face storms in our lives, trusting God is the key to being at peace in all situations. Proverbs 10:25 tells us that the righteous stand firm for ever when storm arise. Knowing who we are in Christ allows us to place our faith in God. Joshua 1:9 tells us to be strong and of good courage, to not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. 

Ps Steu asked four questions about storms:-

1. What happens when the storm does not seem to subside – keep trusting, keep praying, make sure we have the whole armour of God as often there are subsidiary spiritual battles to be won. Fix our heart on what is true and honourable and pure and lovely and admirable. 
2. How do we manage when we feel we don’t have enough faith – phone a friend! Let us ensure people in our life journey (our boat) can encourage us. Also, let us call upon the name of the Lord (psalm 116). 
3. When the storm subsides but we are faced with damage, what then – the answer is in 1 Peter 5:10 (NIV) “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”.
4. What do we do after the storm ends – we place our hope, our faith in Him. We have hope as trusting God keeps us anchored and keeps us calmly harboured and we can experience great peace in the midst of storms. We give thanks and continue to grow in Him.