by Joani Schultz
Pick a storm. Any storm.
Your storm may be literal—a hurricane, tornado, torrential rain, or blinding blizzard.
Your storm may be relational—an estranged family member, a friend’s betrayal, an unresolved conflict.
Your storm may be physical—a battle with cancer, a chronic disease, a difficult-to-detect diagnosis.
Storms whip through our lives like unrelenting news stories. They. Just. Keep. Coming.
During my latest “storm season,” I felt overwhelmed with emotional, relational, then resulting physical storms. (Amazing, how our bodies succumb to storms.)
I begged Jesus to show me a Scripture, a picture, a word of comfort. Anything.
Then Jesus gave me this picture:
– A raging storm (I don’t recall sound effects, but it was a doozy.)
– Me, drenched, shivering, dripping wet, tossed in a flimsy boat.
– Jesus walking toward me, wind, waves, lightning flashing.
– Then, Jesus reached out to me saying, “Look at me…” (I wasn’t; I kept fixating on the raging storm. “Look at me,” he said again, like a caring parent who knows you’re not dialed in. He still didn’t have my undivided attention.
– Jesus grabbed my hand calmly saying, “Look at me…We can walk on water. WE CAN WALK ON WATER.”
– In that moment my soul surged. My heart filled with Comfort. Hope. Exhilaration. Jesus took hold of my hand and my heart. WE can walk on water!
Everything was going to be okay. More than okay.
It’s been a stormy time for me, for US. But I want to remind you—and me—to focus on Jesus and hold on to him. No storm is too powerful to conquer us when Jesus holds on tightly.
Since that picture prayer, I’ve talked to others who told me similar storm assurances—how Jesus was in the storm, how God is in control. All the while none of them knew about my prayer with my stormy Jesus encounter. I took their matching messages as one more assurance that God was in control!
Jesus walked toward me. No storm is too great that he won’t reach out and say, “Look at me. Look at me. We can walk on water!”
What’s your storm?
How is Jesus reaching out to you?