No Need to Fear the Storms of Life

By Marjorie Foerster Eddington

There are so many emotional storms these days, whether they have to do with relationships, school, business, stress, politics, pressure, health, environment, technology…you name it. And it’s sometimes easy to get caught up in the emotions of the moment. So how do we deal with everything? How did Jesus do it?

Well, for one thing, he didn’t get caught up in the storms. He didn’t get stressed out by them, didn’t worry about their effect on his life, didn’t act out in anger, didn’t even put together a plan on how to get rid of them. Most of all, he certainly did not fear them. In fact, in this particular story, he was so unmoved by the tumultuous windstorm, that he fell asleep. His disciples, overcome by fear, woke him up. Jesus didn’t take a long time deciding what to do: “Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matt 8:26 NIV). He was decisive.

And when he and his disciples reached the shore on the other side, landing in Gentile (non-Jewish) territory, Jesus was that decisive in healing the Gadarene men who were overcome by mental storms (they were insane). Jesus simply said, “Go,” to the “demons” that “possessed” the two men (Matt 8:32). Jesus’ very presence healed these men and restored them to their right minds.

So if we ever feel like we are battling emotional or physical demons or storms, we can be just as decisive as Jesus. We can say, “Go. Be still.” And we can expect peace and stillness, harmony and health, clarity and direction.

Why? Because we are in the presence of the Christ. And we can take any problem we have and put it in the presence of the Christ, too. But we have to do it. We can’t just talk about it. Are we willing to make the commitment to center ourselves in the love of God? To take time away from screens, time away from friends, time away from the demands of our daily schedules so that we can be alone with God? Consistently? It’s the most important thing we can do. And when we do, we feel the presence of the Christ.

And we are changed. Problems disappear. Healing happens. The Christ, the light of Love, dispels the darkness. Whatever dark thoughts would try to make us feel hopeless or lost, overwhelmed or insignificant, stressed or confused simply have no power in the face of the Christ.

The more we keep our thoughts focused on what is true and what is really important, the more confident we are at handling any emotional tidal wave which would try to make us forget who we are—the highly important and individual children of God.

So let’s do what Paul told the Philippians to do: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Phil 4:8 NLT).

And that will help us through any storms of life.

May you always feel the presence of the Christ.