Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey Him (Mark 4:41 NLT).

It took a storm to make the disciples realize that they were dealing with the God of the universe who alone could calm the storm. One word and the waves obeyed Him. Having exhausted all their human efforts, they turned with bitterness upon the only One able to save them: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown” (Matthew 8:25 NIV).

Jesus looked out upon the storm, the waves rushing over the boat, and raised His hand. He rebuked the tempest, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39-40).

Our human sufficiency is the great destroyer of faith. It robs us of our inner peace:

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt (Isaiah 57:20).

 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says God. It is sometimes necessary for the Lord to shake us out of our lethargy. Only the violent storms of life can bring us to the realization that we indeed are in need of a Saviour.

The Psalmist understood pain, suffering, and the means employed by God to bring people back into the fold. In Psalm 107, he describes the method of the Lord:

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distress (Psalm 107:4-6).

Sometimes the necessities of life induce us to seek God. Some of us are rebellious by nature, and prefer darkness to light, but the Lord has compassion even on these:

Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses (Psalm 107:11-13 NKJV).

Do we give up on our children when they rebel against us and against God? Thank God, we serve a God who cares enough to try again and again.

Some are fools who keep on bumping their heads and committing the same transgressions over and over again. But even on these, the Lord has compassion and sometimes calls them back into His fold, even while they are on their deathbeds.

Fools, because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
Their soul abhorred all manner of food [Dare we say, bread of life?],
And they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions (Psalm 107:17-20 NKJV).

There is a lesson to be learned here somewhere.

As in the case of the disciples, God uses the storms of life to draw us unto himself. The Psalmist describes seafarers in their ships (Psalm 107:23-24), and the stormy seas God permits to change their stubborn hearts, “For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea” (Psalm 107:25 NKJV). And when they are at their wits’ end (verse 27), then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. “He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:29-30 NKJV).

Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD (Psalm 107:43 NKJV).

“We all like sheep have gone astray,” and God will deal with us according to our needs. Storms do not always come from the evil one, but can be tools used by God to work a work of sanctification in the soul.

The storms are God’s means of changing the heart and producing the fruits of righteousness. “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” (Isaiah 32:17).