When I was 17 years old, I read a play called ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare. In a rough summary, it was about these people who were on a ship and a tempest (a violent windstorm) hit them, causing the ship to supposedly sink. However, it did not sink, because Prospero (the main character) could actually control the storm, steering its direction.
In this play by William Shakespeare, Prospero had the ability to decide the path that the storm would take. This is the same role Jesus plays in our life. Just like Prospero had the power over the storm in the play, Jesus has the power over the storms in our life.
There are so many times when you are over come with a heavy workload, a dire financial situation, a failed relationship (sometimes all of these things at once) and you do not know what to do. You feel like you are caught in a tempest and the boat is about to sink. This is where Jesus is, right there in the middle of the storm. He is ready to calm the waves, silence the storm and take control of your situation. The first step is to trust Him. You do this by:
Opening up your heart
When you make yourself vulnerable at the feet of the Lord, you are choosing to surrender everything you have to Jesus. By doing this, you are giving God the power to take control of the things that are creating a storm within your life. You do not need to guard your heart before God. He knows your heart, he knows your storm and he wants you to trust him through it.
Praying
Never underestimate the power of prayer. When you pray you are taking your situation by the horns and saying “I will not let you isolate me”. You are also speaking life over your situation and not just any life, the life of Jesus and trusting that his life will step in and turn your storm into a calm.
Believing
Through the process of us opening up our heart to God and speaking to Him through prayer, we also need to believe that God is going to come through in our situation. We can not just expect God to work in our life if we do not truly believe in our heart that He will. We need to:
Believe it will come through, to see it come through.
Toward the end of the ‘The Tempest’, it is revealed that Prospero had actually planned to create the storm for his own selfish reasons. He saved the very same people that he put in danger. This is where Prospero differs from God. God does not control your storm for his own selfish reasons, God controls your storm for YOU. He wants to see you through, if you will trust God through the storm.