Life produces all kinds of storms, but we don't need to worry because Jesus has the power to care for us. 

On June 8, 1984, an F5 tornado ripped through the town of Barneveld, Wisconsin. The tornado touched down in the middle of the night, killing nine people and destroying 17 of the town's 18 businesses and 93 of the town's homes. Almost the entire town had to be rebuilt.

JESUS KNOWS ABOUT THE STORMS OF LIFE

The storms of life—we face all sorts of them. Weather storms—Gulf Coast hurricanes and tornados in Alabama, Missouri, and Massachusetts. Kid storms—the call in the middle of the night from the county jail. Unemployment storms and health storms. Storms are scary. Storms are traumatic. Storms worry us and keep us awake at night.

Jesus' disciples were scared one night during a Sea of Galilee storm. It had started out as a beautiful night, perfect for a sail across the lake to give Jesus a break from the crowds that had been following him.

Until the storm. Suddenly, out of nowhere "a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped" (Mark 4:37).

Sometimes life is like that—a smooth sail on a beautiful night. Suddenly, out of nowhere a furious squall surprises us with its violence. Jobs are lost, kids get in trouble, parents get sick, tornados strike.

Jesus knows about the storms of life. He knows about sadness, about betrayal, about friends turning away. He knows about disappointment. He knows about suffering. He knows because he lived on earth, just like we live on earth. Everything we suffer, he suffered. As he was hanging on the cross, paying for our sins, he endured the worst storm of all when God turned his back on his own Son. Jesus knows about the storms of life.

JESUS HAS THE POWER TO STILL OUR STORMS

Jesus teaches us, just as he taught the disciples that stormy night. "He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?' " (Mark 4:40).

There is the heart of the matter. It's a matter of faith. Do we have no faith that Jesus, the Son of God, has the power to still our storms? Do we think that he can't possibly understand, can't possibly have an answer, isn't possibly the almighty God?

Our sinfulness condemns us to hell, but Jesus used his power to solve that biggest of all problems. Even though he is the perfect Son of God, sinless and holy, Jesus went to the cross for our sinfulness, our fears, and our doubts. "May your will be done," he told his Father (Matthew 26:42). "I will suffer the punishment of hell for them. I will do it freely and gladly." And when Jesus rose from the dead, he "was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).