The Way Through Life’s Storms

Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your way? I know there’ve been periods in my life when I certainly felt like that! I don’t mean rhetorically, but in the most real and heartbreaking way.

You feel you’re fighting on so many fronts, looking for a way through so you can once again find the dreams you’ve had for your life; dreams which seem to have been buried in the mire and mud of vanished hopes. As Anne Shirley, in Anne of Green Gables, once said, sometimes we find ourselves amid “a graveyard of buried hopes”.

You’re trying to escape the weight of hurts and disappointments, and you’re simply tired of the effort needed to overcome. But you put on a brave face, putting one step in front of the other, forcefully moving forward, yet no one sees your struggle, your pain, your desire to give up altogether.

But our Heavenly Father tells us there’s a way forward, just when it seems absolutely none to be found!

And in this moment, I’m reminded of Peter so eagerly stepping out of the boat and walking on the water, in Jesus' direction. Faith, trust, hope, excitement welling up within him as he walks towards his master, not even considering the storm swirling around him; and I must give him credit for not only believing, but also for acting on his belief by stepping out of the boat and walking on the rough waters towards Jesus. But then Peter looks around and becomes aware of the ferocious wind and crashing waves, and, taking his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sink, overcome by the fear of the raging storm.

If I’m honest, I’ve done this very thing so many times, so I’m in no position to judge Peter. But like he did with Peter, Jesus always stretches out his hand for me to grab hold of when I too cry out to him to save me, yet again.

Be assured storms will continue to come at you, their waves threatening your dreams, your relationships, your hopes, your health, your very life, bringing you heartache and discouragement, threatening to crush your walls of security with its all-encompassing force, continuously ebbing and flowing, rising and falling.

But if we recognize that God is our compass, and out of these rough, churning waters, he’ll certainly bring us safely ashore, wherever that shore may be, and our lives will have more meaning and purpose than we ever thought possible. Then, even though, obstacle by obstacle, the landscape of our life shifts, changes, or is rearranged, we’ll no longer be people of little faith!

In John 14:1, Jesus encourages us to “not let our hearts be troubled, but to believe in God; and to also believe in him”.

In Matthew 6:25-26, Jesus admonishes us “to not worry about our life, what we will eat or drink; or about our body, what we will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not much more valuable than they?”

And in Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us to “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus wants us to know how much he cares for us. He wants us to trust in him, to believe in him, to hope in him and to place our lives in his care and in his hands. And if we do, he will take care of us.

This image is AI-generated, but every word on this blog is written by me, from my own heart, faith, & lived experience, with NO AI generation, writing, editing, or polishing.

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