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Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Matthew 8:26 (NIV)

I am going to be honest, during my husband’s cancer journey, I struggled to find relevance and application in God’s Word to soothe my aching, hurting soul. Nothing ever seemed to ‘hit the spot’. But one night, God got my attention in Matthew 8:23-27. The lessons He taught me that night proved vital as I walked into widowhood.

Then he [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
Matthew 8:23 (NIV)

They had just witnessed Jesus perform numerous miracles. What a high they must have been experiencing. They had no idea what they were about to encounter. A storm was brewing, and they would soon learn no one is immune to the storms.

Did you ever question God and wonder why He allowed this storm into your life? I have, and I am still waiting on His answer. What I do know is that just because I am a daughter of the King, it doesn’t mean storms won’t come.

Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
Matthew 8:24 (NIV)

The unexpected storm was no small storm. It didn’t just bump or bang the boat a little; it crashed its way into the boat. The storm hit hard! As widows, we know life can take a turn for the worse without warning and with fury.

My husband’s stage four lung cancer diagnosis came up as unexpectedly as that storm on the lake. He had had some health issues, but nothing that pointed to such a deadly ending. Until it did! And, yes, it hit hard! He went from a healthy, active man in his late fifties to a man who could barely get out of bed some days. Suddenly our “boat” felt the crashing waves of loss of income, juggling work full-time, chemo and radiation treatments, tests, and fractured family relationships that wreaked havoc as we all processed the prognosis differently.

At times I wondered why God wasn’t doing anything to calm the storm.

Our boat was taking hard hits from this storm. He ‘felt’ distant, but Scripture tells me He will never leave me or forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5 NIV) I clung to that truth even when the waves continued to come. God was in our boat and just as the winds and waves obeyed Jesus then, He was (and is) still in control.

Instead of acting in faith, the disciples reacted in fear. Jesus responded as if to say, “I am right here, why are you afraid?” Shaken by the waves, they had forgotten all they had just experienced onshore as Jesus healed and drove out demons. As I pondered this verse, I questioned my own faith and trust. Over and over I had to remind myself that God had always been faithful to get us through hard times in the past, and He would be faithful again.

I could not let fear wreck my faith.

I learned to trust Him in the storm of cancer and even more so as I entered the storm of widowhood. He may not have always calmed the storm, but He has always calmed His beloved!

Lord, as we ride out the storm of widowhood, may we do it with an awareness of Your presence in our life. Remind us of the Truth that You have not left us, You hear our cries, You are in control and we need not be afraid. Amen