The Curious Pilgrim

What God Is Saying Through Today’s Daily Office Readings

Readings: Psalm 119:49–72 • 1 Samuel 25:23–44 • Acts 14:19–28 • Mark 4:35–41

Storms come in many forms.

Some are the storms of nature. Others are storms of conflict, disappointment, fear, grief, or uncertainty. None of us escape them.

Jesus had spent the day teaching and healing. As evening approached, He told His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” They climbed into the boat, and before long a violent storm swept across the Sea of Galilee. The waves crashed over the boat until the disciples feared they would drown.

Meanwhile, Jesus slept.

Terrified, they woke Him crying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then He turned to His disciples and asked, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

I understand those frightened disciples.

When Hurricane Katrina roared northward through Mississippi in 2005, I watched from window to window just as my parents had done when storms threatened our farm years earlier. The wind howled, the rain pounded, and I could feel fear beginning to take hold.

Then I remembered this story.

I sat down at the kitchen table, opened my Bible, and began to read and pray. As I prayed, something remarkable happened. The storm outside continued to rage, but the storm inside me grew quiet. God’s peace settled over my heart. I even started working a crossword puzzle.

Then came a deafening crash.

A tree fell onto the house above the kitchen sink. Water poured into the kitchen.

Yet the peace remained.

I stayed there through the storm and even went to bed that night knowing I was in God’s hands.

The next morning, trees blocked the roads. Power lines lay tangled on the ground. Debris covered the neighborhood.

A few days later, the roads were cleared enough for me to reach the church. By God’s grace, our church still had electricity and had suffered little damage. We immediately began contacting members and neighbors. Before long, our small congregation became a center for relief efforts, serving people throughout the community.

God had not stopped the storm.

But God worked through it.

The other readings tell the same story.

Paul was stoned at Lystra and left for dead. Yet when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and continued preaching the gospel.

David nearly allowed anger and revenge to control him after Nabal insulted him. But Abigail courageously intervened with wisdom and humility. David listened. He chose mercy over vengeance and entrusted justice to God. Nabal later died, but David did not have to carry the burden of revenge.

Again and again, Scripture reminds us that faith does not mean storms never come. Faith means God is present in the storm.

The psalmist understood this when he wrote:

“The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love.”

Not just the peaceful places.

The whole earth.

Including the storm.

Looking back on Hurricane Katrina, I no longer remember only the wind, the fallen trees, or the damaged homes. I remember God’s peace. I remember neighbors helping neighbors. I remember a little church becoming a place of hope for people who had lost so much.

Sometimes Jesus calms the storm around us.

Sometimes He calms the storm within us.

Either way, we remain in His hands.

And that is enough.