Storms in life- the school for water- walkers There are two types of storms we can face in life. One when we are out of the will of God and the other when we are in the will of God. We certainly need discernment and wisdom to distinguish the difference between the two. Storms are God's megaphone to get our attention. God is economical, he will use whatever means to get to us. He speaks to us through whirlwind, earthquake, even through still small voice. But very often he uses the storm to train his saints to be water walkers. Storms are not problems but situations for soaring and not sinking.

Jonah in the bible faced a storm when he was out of the will of God whereas the disciples of Jesus faced the storm when they were in the perfect will of God (Matthew 14:22) as they were sent by him. Jonah was arrested by the storm of his life time when he was running away from his mission. He was not only fleeing but he also wanted to forget about his mission by choosing to sleep through the storm below the deck. The storm was a stark reminder that God was not through with him yet. When facing a storm whether it is the Jonah- kind or the Jesus- kind you cannot flee from it, forget it or fight it but have to face it. Faith heroes in the bible ran from situations. Moses fled from Pharaoh and found himself in the wilderness storm for 40 years (Exodus 3:6).Hagar fled from her mistress and ended up in the desert storm. (Genesis16:13).Most of the heroes and heroines in the bible had both beauty and blemishes in their character. They had an attitude problem that could only be dealt with either in the fierce sand storm of the desert or in the fury of the storm out in the sea. Both Moses and Hagar met God in their storm who taught them the great equation that submission faith is equals to power
(submission + faith =power)
- a principle that we cannot afford to neglect. The only way for our break- through to come during the storm is to go through it. It is important to know that in God's economy there is no "drive- through" break-through only "go- through" break- through. Facing the storm sooner than later will reduce God's classroom time with us Disciples are reared and nurtured in God's classroom not in Satan's showroom. Storms are sent to make us and not to break us. It is sent so that we can step up to the next level. We often make radical choices in the storm. But for a believer there is only two options, either simply sink in fear or soar in faith like the eagle that spreads her wings in readiness as she sees a storm brewing in the horizon.

For the purpose of this article I like to share some of life's precious lessons we can glean from the storm in Matthew 14:22-33. In this passage Jesus is teaching his disciples to be water- walkers. Water- walkers are those who get out of their boat at the command of Jesus and take him at his word. It is those who don't go by feeling and reasoning before they decide to leave their boat. They are the ones who know that his Words are containers for faith when acted upon will display the manifestation of God's supernatural power. We are called to walk on the water of God's Word. It was the Word of God that kept both Jesus and Peter on the water and not the suspending gravitation of their body. Neither was the sea water holding them up. The Word of God operating through Jesus and the power of God flowing through Jesus created a field of anointing that empowered Jesus to walk on water. And Peter connected to that anointing by faith was able to do the same. Jesus the Word made flesh, which created the waters out of his Word, was now walking out his Word and walking over what he created. The waves and the waters were bowing to its creator. The laws of nature were put on hold.

God has an inheritance laid aside for us in Christ Jesus. Though babies are cute he is certainly not going to give them to spiritual babies. He will only give us blessing in connection to and in conjunction with our spiritual growth. Growth involves growing pains. God can only season his saints in the storm. We have to learn to grow up without giving up. To be someone for God you got to be willing to go through some things for him. He gives grace to the humble to enable them to go through the storm. The humble one is the one who cast his anxiety upon the lord and admits that "apart from you I can do nothing" (see 1Peter5:5-7; John15:5). The proud one is the one who says "I did it my way". To see God- kind results in a storm you got to replace self- confidence with God-confidence. For that to happen, we need to be graduates of the school of water- walkers.