Where is God During the Storms of Life?

A preacher once shared in a sermon that he begged God over and over with this plea: “Lord, please get me out of this situation”. He then heard the Lord say: “I want to be with you in this situation!” A similar plea from the disciples in the boat with Jesus is recounted in the Gospel According to Mark:

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? (Mark 4:37-38)

Jesus reminds them, in so many words, that he has been with them the whole time, and then calms the storm. A lesson was given about looking beyond natural sight to seeing through the eyes of faith. As we brave the storms that occur in our lives, we can take comfort that we are “in the same boat” with Jesus. It may seem like he is sleeping and unaware of our troubles when in reality he is closer than our next breath.

While Jesus never promised that our lives would be free of suffering, he did assure us of his continual presence and providential care. Before ascending into Heaven, Jesus left his followers with their “marching orders” and reminds them that he will be with them “always, to the end of the age”. This “Great Commission” is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew: 28:18-20).

As we follow the mandate to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations”, we are assured that Jesus promised to be with us every step of the way. Every baptized person who is in the state of grace (free of mortal sin) can be assured that Jesus, along with the Father and the Spirit lives within them. This excerpt from the poem “Footprints in the Sand” illustrates how close God is to us especially when he appears to be “asleep in the boat”:

Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.

This poem, while not attributable to a single author, has endured for generations. It suggests that God is closer than ever during our most difficult times but cannot be perceived through our natural senses and emotions. The gift of faith, bestowed on us in baptism, is strengthened through adversity and grows as we cooperate with God’s loving providence.

God’s ways are mysterious and have been misunderstood by the best of us throughout the ages. Martha, along with Mary and Lazarus, were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus didn’t come immediately upon hearing about his friend, Martha questioned his delayed response:

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him (John 11:17-22).

Let us pray for the grace to walk more by faith and less by sight as we journey through the storms that occasionally arise in our lives.