What the Bible Says About Storms (and What I Learned in Mine)

Not long ago, I took a side gig delivering for Amazon at a local DSP, driving one of those Rivian delivery vans. Honestly, I did it for fun. I'd always wanted to try it. Money wasn't the reason.

Then, shortly after we moved, my wife was laid off. Her company was acquiring a smaller, less expensive team, and her job didn't make the cut. Just like that, we were down to one income.

The side gig that became a lifeline

She was out of work for six months. And the side gig I'd taken for fun became the thing that kept us going. Looking back, the timing lined up perfectly. I just couldn't see it yet.

I'll be honest. At 42 years old, delivering for Amazon isn't something I'd recommend. The days are long. It's hard on your joints. I came home sore, tired and incredibly dirty, every single day.

And it still wasn't enough. We started falling behind on bills. We fell behind on our car payments and on rent. Our phones got shut off more than once. Some weeks we struggled just to keep food on the table, and we cut out a lot.

Those six months were hard. Really hard. More times than I can count, I felt like giving up.

That was our storm.

What we did in the middle of it

We didn't have a plan that fixed everything. What we had was this: we stayed faithful, and we stayed obedient.

And I prayed. A lot. Some of my most honest prayers happened on those Amazon shifts.

What the Bible says about storms

The Bible never promises we won't go through storms. It promises we won't go through them alone.

In Mark 4, Jesus and His disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee when a great windstorm hits. The waves are breaking into the boat, and it's filling with water. And Jesus is asleep in the back, on a cushion.

The disciples wake Him up with a question I've asked more than once:

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38)

He gets up, rebukes the wind and says to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And there's a great calm. (Mark 4:39)

What gets me is where Jesus was the whole time. He was in the boat. The storm didn't mean He'd left. He was right there with them, even when it felt like He was sleeping through it.

God says it plainly in Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you."

It says when, not if. And it says through. Not around. Not over. Through, with Him.

And Psalm 107:29 says, "He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed." Sometimes He calms the storm. Sometimes He walks you through it. Either way, He's in it with you.

How God brought us through

Then, almost all at once, my wife got multiple job offers. After six months of nothing, they all came at the same time, just in the nick of time.

She took a remote job in customer success. Remote mattered a lot for us, because our son is autistic and stays home.

She did so well in her first month that she was able to refer me. I have a background in marketing and client success, and I got hired too.

I left the Amazon job, and I'm finishing my first month at the new one now. I love it. It reminds me of the agency I worked at for nearly a decade, back when it was young and the culture was great, and I looked forward to going to work. I get to help small businesses find success using the power of the internet (and AI). That's exactly what I love doing.

After the storm

The storm is over, but we're still cleaning up after it. Getting caught up from something like that takes time. We're doing it.

And through all of it, He's been here the entire time. In the layoff. In the long shifts. In the shut-off phones and the late rent. In the new job.

I didn't always see it in the moment. That's kind of my whole story. For most of my life, I almost understood that God was in the boat with me. Now I know He never left.

This won't be my last storm

If I'm honest, my life has been full of storms like this one. Thirteen schools growing up. A family marked by addiction. Seasons when I couldn't see God at all, even though He was right there. I wrote a whole book about them.

And this one won't be the last. More storms are coming. I don't say that to be gloomy. It's just honest. Jesus said it plainly: "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

The same is true for you. You've been through storms, and you'll go through more. But the God who was in the boat in your last storm will be in the boat in the next one. He doesn't leave between storms.

If you're in a storm right now

If you're in the middle of your own storm, here's what I'd tell you:

• Keep showing up. Faithfulness doesn't always look impressive. Sometimes it looks like getting up sore and doing it again.
• Pray honestly. You can ask Him if He cares. The disciples did, and He didn't throw them out of the boat for asking.
• Don't measure His presence by your circumstances. A storm doesn't mean He's gone.
• Hold on. "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5)

My memoir, Almost Understood, is the longer story of a God who was there long before I noticed. If you're in a storm of your own, I wrote it for you. You can preorder a signed copy or find it at your favorite bookstore on my books page. It releases January 12, 2027.