Is Jesus Greater Than the Storm You’re Facing?

After Jesus returned to heaven, the Bible says he sat down at God’s right hand. His sitting is a symbol of his power and authority. Jesus is currently reigning over all creation with full authority. He had told his disciples that this would happen:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18)

Hundreds of years earlier, God promised David that the Messiah would be King (2 Samuel 7:11-13). Isaiah prophesied about it as well (Isaiah 9:6-7). 

Peter, the disciple who was so close to Jesus, said it too:

…who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:22)

Jesus is reigning in heaven. But wasn’t this always the case? After all, he’s God. We know as God the Son, he was involved in the creation of the universe (John 1:3). So what changed? 

The difference is that while before Jesus came to earth, he was God the Son, he’s now more than that. He’s the eternal God-man, still fully God, and now also fully man. He’s paid our penalty and conquered sin and death. The Father has given all authority to One who is both God the Son and Jesus from Nazareth. 

And with that authority, he reigns over all creation. One of the ways he reigns is that Jesus maintains the universe down to the smallest detail. 

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… (Hebrews 1:3)

Note the words “all things hold together” and “upholds the universe.” It’s because of him, has always been because of him, that even atoms stay together. He’s the one who holds together the very fabric of the universe. Jesus is sovereign over everything from the movement of galaxies to the movement of the atom. We probably don’t ponder that truth often enough and don’t thank him enough for that. 

Jesus is reigning over your life as well. When things are going well for you, you have him to thank. But when things go bad, you can know that you’re in his hands and what you’re experiencing is part of a plan. That’s what Romans 8:28 is all about:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

When God allows us to experience a circumstance that brings us pain, we can’t always see the goodness of the pain at the time, but we can know that he still loves us, and one day, either in this life or the next, we are going to thank him for the thing that brought the pain.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us about a time when Jesus and the disciples were in a boat when a violent storm hit them. You can read Matthew’s account here. The disciples panicked and started doing the only thing they could — bailing the water out of the boat. They were in real danger of sinking. Meanwhile, Jesus is asleep! So they start shouting, “Wake up, Jesus! Save us!” I think they just wanted his help bailing water. Jesus did something even better. He got up, asked them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26), and then stopped the storm in its tracks.

He is just as much in control of the storm you’re facing as he was of that storm on the lake. Jesus says to you, “Even when you’re in a storm and horrible things are happening and you’re hurting, I love you, and I’m with you, and I’m in control. I’ve never lost control.”

He may not immediately stop your storm. We don’t know why he allowed the disciples to go through that storm. Maybe it was so they could learn just how powerful he is. Maybe it was so you could read the story and learn more about the power of your Savior. We’ll seldom know the “why” of a storm.

What you can know, is that Jesus is in that boat with you, and when you’ve lost hope, he is hope. When you’ve lost control, he’s in control. 

Jesus is King. He’s reigning from heaven over all of life, so no matter what life throws at you, it’s under his control. There is a purpose. It isn’t random, it isn’t an accident, and it didn’t take your Savior by surprise. No matter how big the problem, Jesus is bigger.

That’s why our only valid response to any storm is faith. He asked his disciples, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” How’s your faith in the One who reigns?

I pray that we all will understand just how mighty our Savior is. I close with this prayer of the Apostle Paul:

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (Ephesians 1:19-23, NLT)

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