"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?' And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, 'Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!'"
Mark 4:35-41
Surviving on the Stormy Seas
Somewhere we have gotten in our minds that storms should not affect us quite like they do. However, the Scriptures are full of reminders that we will have trouble in our lives and even in our marriages (John 16:33; 1 Corinthians 7:28). It is obvious that people see the storms that arise in marriage and desperately want to do something about them. Women seem to notice it much more than men. Stormie Omartian's book The Power of a Praying Wife broke a record because it was #1 on the CBA best-seller's list for 27 consecutive months.
John and Stasi Eldredge say, "Marriage is a love story and a war story together. Marriage is hard. Bring together a man and a woman - two creatures who think, act, and feel so differently you would think they'd come from separate solar systems - and ask them to get along for the rest of their lives under the same roof. That is like taking Cinderella and Huck Finn, tossing them in a submarine, and closing the hatch. What did you think would happen?
Why do we have storms in our marriages?
We are still suffering from the effects of the fall.
Where do storms come from in our marriages?
Internal (a storm of our own making)
External (an outside influence in our life)
Eternal (God allows them to shape us)
What can we learn from the storms in our marriages?
Jesus is with us in the storm.
Jesus has power over the storm.
What we need is to ask God to change our mindset about storms! For example, storms are good for fisherman because they bring nutrients to the surface that would have otherwise settled to the bottom. In the same way, God can use the storms of our life to bring His good to the surface. May you experience the presence of God in your marriage today.
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