Dark black clouds were rolling in the distance. The beautiful clear blue sky was disappearing more and more. Mother was driving while Annie and Max happily spoke about their day spent at Grandpa’s house. Grandpa had a puppy that some neighbours had given to him, and the children had spent much time playing with their new little friend. Suddenly, they heard a loud strong noise causing immediate silence in the car. Thunder.
“Mother,” said Maxi’s little trembling voice, “are we almost home?”
Mother noticed the traffic on the highway they were just getting on. She sighed; she knew how scared Maxi was of storms. Before she could answer, rain started pouring down. Lightning could be seen in the distance.
“Oh no,” Maxi screeched, as he quickly reached over for Annie’s hand. Annie try to comfort her brother as much as possible.
“Unfortunately son, we are stuck in traffic, it looks like it will take some time to get home,” answered Mother. She truly felt sorry for her son. Storms scared her a little too.
With each loud noise coming from the thunderstorm, Maxi let out a cry. Traffic didn’t seem to advance. Mother then had an idea. She took her Bible out of her purse and began to read aloud Mark 4:35–41 for the children to hear.
“And the same day, when the even was come, He [Jesus] saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
The sound of the thunder and the view of the lightning made the story even more real. The children listened attentively.
“So, even the disciples were scared of the storm?” asked Annie. Maxi started to feel better; he wasn’t the only one.
“Yes,” answered Mother.
“And Jesus spoke to the storm to stop, and the storm obeyed? How is that possible?” asked Maxi, as he looked out the window.
“Jesus had the power to do so because the Father gave Him that power. Jesus can stop any storm, even the storms of our lives. The storms of our lives are those moments when we go through very difficult situations. These situations sometimes scare us, discourage us, and sometimes we may think God doesn’t care about us. However, Jesus is with us every moment. If we call on His name, He will hear us and help us. We should confide in Him, and when we learn to do so, we will have no fear of any storm.”
Maxi felt unafraid now. He believed that Jesus could literally stop even the storm taking place at that very moment. He even thanked God aloud, “Lord, thank you because you can stop any storm, and for taking away the fear I had.”
The traffic began to fade, and before they knew it, they reached home. The storm stopped.