God calmed the storm for Moses.
Pharaoh’s army thundered behind him. The Red Sea churned in front. Two million Israelites panicked all around. Moses had nowhere to turn—but up. Whether he shook his staff at God in anger or raised it in desperation, only Moses knows. But whatever the reason, he called out to heaven. The sea opened. The people crossed. And Egypt faded in the rearview mirror.
Sometimes God calms the storm.
He excises the malignant cancer. Transfers the cranky boss. Replenishes the diminishing funds. The breath of heaven blows, the clouds scatter, and the winter sky turns springtime blue.
I’M A PASTOR AND I KNOW OUR WORLD FEELS WOUNDED, WORRIED, AND WEARY. HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?
Sometimes He calms the storm. Other times, He calms the child.
Rather than quiet the tempest, He stills the sailor. Rather than remove the disease, He removes the fear. Rather than lift the debt, He lifts the doubt. The storm still rages. The wind still howls. But the child no longer frets—he trusts. He may even sleep.
Jesus did. Remember that night?
Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.
(Matt. 8:23–26, NLT)
What do you find more amazing? That Jesus calmed the storm—or that He slept through it?
Exactly how does one sleep through a storm? The boat bounced like a ping-pong ball. Waves crashed over the deck. Thunder boomed. The disciples screamed. And Jesus snored. The boat became His bassinet.
Could you use that kind of peace?
If so, you’re not alone. Anxiety is now standard fare.
Recent studies show 43% of U.S. adults feel more anxious than they did just a year ago. It’s not hard to see why. We feel ambushed—hurricanes strike, wildfires rage, the Middle East teeters on war, and AI threatens everything from jobs to our sanity.
In our whirlpool of worries, we sleep less, argue more, digest poorly, and ache everywhere. Unhealthy stress raises blood pressure, dulls intimacy, and even turns our hair gray. Even mild anxiety brings a 20% greater risk of death.
Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He calms the child.
He calmed Bill Loveless.
Bill, a beloved minister who served churches worldwide, was diagnosed with cancer of both the pancreas and the liver. But the news didn’t take him down. Just the opposite. In a final letter to friends of his ministry, he wrote:
Immediately upon hearing this diagnosis I walked… [into] a new realm of God’s presence, His love and His grace. The things I have been teaching have become a living, breathing 3D reality like I have never experienced. The Lord and I have been in nonstop communion, and every day His presence, love, mercy, and comfort continue to fill my soul. I truly can’t put into words what the Lord is revealing, but I have never experienced such a deep awareness of His presence.
And God is calming my friend Susannah.
She buried her husband just weeks ago. A widow at 40. Two middle schoolers. Long nights. An uncertain future. But already, she’s written me two letters of gratitude—one for a Scripture I texted, another for the flowers we sent. “I can already see good coming out of this,” she wrote.
God didn’t keep her out of the storm. But He calmed her in the midst of it.
No storm ever hit harder than the one that raged through Gethsemane’s garden. And no prayer was ever prayed with more passion than the one Jesus prayed on the eve of His death: “Can you calm the storm?”
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God had calmed storms for Moses. He had protected Daniel. He would deliver Paul and Silas. Surely He could do the same for His own Son.
Of course He could. But He chose not to.
The cross was part of God’s plan to redeem His children. God didn’t calm the storm. But He calmed His Son. And Jesus walked to Calvary in peace. A heaven-sent, illogical, stare-death-in-the-face-with-a-smile peace.
You can find this peace.
I pray God calms your storm. If He does not, may He calm you. And may you find:
“…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”
(Philippians 4:7, ESV)
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