One of my favorite songs when I was a kid has these lyrics:

With Christ in the vessel, I can smile at the storm, smile at the storm, smile at the storm. With Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm as we go sailing home.

It was a simple song to sing, and it was fun to do the actions that go with it. But I soon realized that it’s difficult to smile in the midst of life’s storms.

Job knew serious sorrows—stuff that we hope will never happen to us. He lost three of the most valued things in life: family, wealth, and health (Job 1:14-19, 2:7). And his children were killed by-you guessed it-a storm. It would have been tough for him to sing my little song.

Job questioned God’s presence and fairness (23:8-9, 30:26) and demanded an answer from Him. God responded by speaking to his hurting servant out of the storm. A tempest had caused Job’s pain and now another one became the place from which God communicated.

It was Satan who sent the first devastating storm (1:12, 2:6). But at times, it is God who sends us into the dark, turbulent trials of life (Mark 4:35-41). Tossed violently by the strong winds and raging waves, we fear that we may be shipwrecked, and we will-if we are not anchored securely in Jesus, the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 18:2; Hebrews 6:19).

Let’s “listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice [for] God’s voice is glorious” (Job 37:2-5). And let’s hear His gracious promise, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). Perhaps we will never know how God controls the storm. But we know that God is in the storm with us (Mark 4:36-38)-and He is far greater than any storm (Mark 4:41).