Begin with 2 minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Being so near to the Gulf Coast, I would venture to say that most of us have experienced some tumultuous storms. I lived about 200 miles from the Coast when Hurricane Katrina changed the landscape forever, yet I still felt her wrath.

In life, storms come in different sizes, whether literally or figuratively. Some storms affect our sanity in small ways and then there are those Katrina-size storms that change the very person that we are. So let’s look at what scripture teaches about navigating storms.

Matthew 8:23-27, "Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

Have you ever found yourself in a storm? Maybe your storm looked like a difficult, rebellious teenager, or maybe it looked like financial overwhelm, perhaps it was a tragedy that caught you completely off guard. When storms of such magnitude come to us, what can we do? How do we continue to live and keep moving forward with the landscape torn tragically in front of us? First of all, we must remember our Savior walks on water. He commands the winds and the waves and they obey him.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• On this day I am reminded of the words of the song, In the Eye of the Storm by Ryan Stevenson. The last verse carries so much meaning to me: "You alone are the anchor when the sails are torn… I find my peace, in Jesus' Name."
  (Listen to the song and feel the comfort that comes from the Savior being our guide in the storms of life).
  
• Prayer: Dear God, storms come to us in many ways. We are rarely ready to deal with the things brought to us when storms blow into our lives. Lord, You are our anchor in these times. Be with us in these times. Steady us. Keep us safe. Help us to learn from these storms so that we will be stronger from the experiences each time. In Jesus' name, Amen.