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This is the fourth and last post in the “You Are a Child of God” series.

As we have been reading in our previous posts, we are children of God. This identity comes with a whole package and each one of the things that we already have or long for matter to God. He wants to be in every little detail of our lives as a parent would like to be in his/her children’s lives. We were created in His image and crafted perfectly by His hands. I recently was talking to a friend about salvation, the different things we go through, choices we have to make daily because of our new identity in Christ and concluded saying that salvation is hard. Salvation is beautiful but it is hard! It’s hard because we are constantly in a battle, not using physical weapons but instead using spiritual weapons. The battle is in the spiritual realm. As God is spirit (John 1:24), we are also spirits who have a soul and live in a body.

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4: 37-38

Today, I was reminded about the above verse, and meditated on the storm. It wasn’t the first time for the disciple to see a storm for sure, but this storm was particularly strong and scary for them, even though Jesus was with them in the boat. The worst part was that Jesus was peacefully sleeping while the disciples were scared for their lives. They even woke him up asking them if He doesn’t care if they were to be drown. Jesus spoke to the storm, commanding it to be quiet and still! And the next thing Jesus asked them was if they still do not have faith. It was like Jesus was asking them “after all the miracles I have made, after walking with you every day, why don’t you have faith in me?”

A storm is a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning or even snow. Think about the disciples being in such weather while in the boat in the middle of the ocean. It sure was scary! We may not encounter such storms in our lives, but we do experience some situations that feel like storms. Storms are scary because we cannot control them. We get stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious about that specific situation and sometimes our minds start imagining the worst possible scenarios.

As children of God, we will often face storms in our lives because this world is not ours and the one who is in the world hates us so much that he is always fiercely after us. Fortunately, the one who is in us is bigger than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Sometimes when I am facing a hard situation, I close my eyes and start imagining that there are hundreds of angels fighting for me and that brings back hope in me.

Since we cannot avoid storms, we must go through them. And as James 1: 2 says, let’s rejoice when facing tribulations because that’s when our faith will produce perseverance. This is hard, right!? But since God loves us so much, He made sure He tells us in advance in John 16:33 that in this world we will have troubles, but He told us to not worry about it because He has already overcome the world. Halleluiah!! To go through storms, we have to put our eyes on Jesus and not on the storm. We should worship through it and pray, pray, and pray again, without ceasing. God our Father will guard our hearts and minds and give us peace that transcends everything (Philippians 4: 7), not because our circumstances have changed, but because we know that our Father will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Today, let’s think about all the things God has done for us since we have started our journey with Him. Let’s be reminded of all the storms, small or big He has made us go through, and this will strengthen our faith. Our God is faithful, the one who opened up an ocean, the one who fed more than five thousands with 2 fish and five bread (Matthew 14: 17-21), the same power that resurrected Jesus and resurrected Lazarus (John 11: 1-45), is in you. The good news is that He will never let us be tempted more than we can bear. Have peace and be still, He has overcome everything you are going through.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I praise you because of who You are. Thank you for telling me in advance what I will face in this world as your child. Thank you for preparing in advance what to hold on in my trials and tribulations. Help me to be still and have peace even in the middle of storms and remember that you have overcome the world. Help me to go through those situations by still worshipping you and praying. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.