What is Your Storm?

by David Lins  |  06/20/2021  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

What storms do you find yourself stuck within? Illness? An abusive home? Chronic pain? Depression? Loved ones who are struggling? Anxiety about the direction of the country and/or the world? Unfulfilled dreams or potential?

Mark 4 talks about a storm, “Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.” It goes on, “A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern...”

Let’s stop here and highlight something. Even in the midst of the squall (definition: a sudden, violent localized storm, especially one bringing rain, snow, or sleet) – Jesus was in the boat with them. He wasn’t on shore. He was with them in the storm.

Friends. He is with you in your storm.

“They woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’”

How often do our prayers – from the depths of our respective storms – take on a similar plea?

“He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?’”

I promise you – I understand what it is to be in the storm and resent God for just sitting there – sleeping on the job. After all, isn’t he supposed to keep us out of the storms, shield us from the unfairness of it all, and rescue us from our difficulty?!

No. He isn’t. He is supposed to be with us through it all, love us through it all, and only at the end, love us out of it all.

On the day we are welcomed home, the wind will cease and there will be great calm.

Questions? Comments? Reach David at dlins@oloj.org