Strength through the Storm: Three Ways to Endure the Storm

I am on the beach this week. I see the waves roll in and out. I see the sunset rising with golden hues of color and sparkling sunsets. Even with all this beauty, I am here because of the storms others are enduring: childhood cancer. There is no way to go over, under, around this storm. There is only the way to make it and that is through it. Learning how to rest in the storm may be one of our hardest experiences, but it is one that can provide unmeasurable hope and healing.

 Storms

I love a good storm. The sound of thunder and heavy rain is hypnotic for me. However, I only like storms when I am at home, with a book, coffee, and on my couch or in my bed! I do not want to be in the storm getting pelted by the heavy rain or hiding from lightening. But what happens when escaping the storm is not an option?

The families at Lighthouse are in a storm they cannot escape. Although many of us volunteers are here this week to give them support through their storm, reality is we cannot take away their storm, their journey. Nor is that the goal. However, we are here not only to be a beacon of hope for them, but also to learn from them how to weather storms that seem impossible to overcome.

Mark 4:35-41 gives insight on how to weather the storms of life. Whether our storms are physical, financial, relational, or spiritual, we can find rest in the storm. We can endure the storm by acknowledging, asking for help, and trusting.

Three Ways to Go through the Storm

 1)        Acknowledging

We cannot make it through what we will not go through. Nobody wants to hear what these families at Lighthouse have heard: your child has cancer. However, they have to go through it for their child to receive healing. Whether it is a cancer diagnosis, a relationship ending, or any other storm, if we do not acknowledge the truth of our circumstances, we cannot find the healing that we need.

Mark 4:37-38 displays the necessity for acknowledging the storm. The disciples are hanging on the boat resting as Jesus rested below in the stern. While enjoying the moments of a rest, a storm appears. It was a frightful enough storm that they wake Jesus from His sleep and convey their fears to him. To get through this storm, they first had to acknowledge there was something they needed help with. To make it through the storm, they had to face their own fear, and worry, limitations. And we are no different.

Additionally, Psalm 29 provides insight into the power of acknowledging the storm. It is titled in the New American Standard Version: “The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.” No matter the journey, we can rest assured that the Lord is over the waters (Psalm 29:3) we are in. This does not mean the storms will vanish, but it does mean that in acknowledging the storm, we are not alone.

2)        Asking for Help

Asking for help can be humbling. We may be known as the “strong one,” “the independent one,” or simply the one who helps everyone else and has it all together. Therefore, to ask for help appears “wrong” or selfish or weak. However, asking for help is some of the strongest work we will do.

Scripture is full of people asking for help. David asked, Job asked, Moses asked. Furthermore, the disciples asked for what they needed in Mark 4:38. And I love their question: “The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’” The disciples ask what I have asked, maybe you too, amid my storms, “Do you care? Are you there?” And the beauty of this question is they were not afraid to ask, and neither do we need to be afraid. In fact, Jesus tells us to ask.

John 14:13-14 and Matthew 7:7 tells us that we can ask for what we need. There is no shame in asking for help. This does not mean we are weak. We are simply acknowledging our need for support in whatever storm we are enduring.

3)        Trusting

Trusting is one of the hardest tasks we face as humans. Unfortunately, this world provides us plenty of opportunities for trust to be betrayed leaving us hesitant to trust. Therefore, trusting will not always come natural for many of us. Now add in the storm and trusting in someone else to help us navigate the storm and that may seem impossible. In fact, storms often amp up the need to be in control, and we really, really do not trust anyone else to get us through the storm. And we are not the only ones.

As noted previously, Mark 4:35-41 depicts the fear many of us face when we are in the middle of the storm. Jesus and the disciples get on the boat, and Jesus is lulled to sleep in the stern possibly by the soothing waters’ waves. The disciples are possibly relaxing above talking about all they have Jesus do and what he has taught that day. Then, wham! The storm. Mark 4:37 says, “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” It appears there was no sign of a storm brewing.  It simply came out of nowhere. How true that is for many of us. (It is certainly true of the families at Lighthouse.) One minute we are enjoying life and wham! The next thing we know we are flailing just to keep our head above water. In our panic we may be trying to cling to anything and everything within our reach, within our control. Yet, nothing is sustainable.

Like the disciples, we reach a point of frustration and maybe cry out “Are you seriously going to let this happen?!” “Are you going to let me (my family, my finances, my life) drown?” “Where are you?” Our desperation becomes evident and robust. And Jesus is not upset by those questions.

Jesus heard his disciples, and he rebuked the storm telling it to be “Quite! Be still!” However, he also asked the disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Notice Jesus was not upset for the disciples asking for him for help. However, he does address their reluctance to trust him because they have with their own eyes his power at work. However, Jesus still gives space for them to ask. Jesus knows this is another opportunity for them to grow in their faith and experience his power and might.

Final Thoughts

Storms will come. Waves will crash over us. However, we can trust Jesus is in the boat with us. And when we acknowledge, ask for help from Jesus and others whom God has placed in our lives as a support, and trust him, we reach a place where we can say, “It is well with my soul.”