The Storm
When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more. (Proverbs 10:25)
Are you in the middle of a storm right now? If you are, take courage for something good is coming.
We constantly see principles of the Christian spiritual life illustrated in nature. Regular readers know that I have particularly enjoyed the spiritual truths I have discovered in the vegetable garden over the past four years. It is therefore not surprising that we also see spiritual truths played out in the weather.
The Gospel reading from last weekend is a story that we are all familiar with—Jesus stills the storm at sea. Although there are many lessons and principles we can learn from studying and praying about this story, there is a spiritual warfare dimension to this story that should give us hope in the midst of the storms we face in life.
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”1
It is possible that this significant event, where Jesus demonstrates His Divine power over nature, is prophetically foreshadowed in the Psalms:
They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.2
Over twenty years ago, during my first visit to Nigeria, I attended an all night prayer vigil. (I wrote about the trip here.) I distinctly recall the Scripture teaching that night because I had never heard this exegesis before.
Dominic, a member of the prayer ministry, was teaching about this same Gospel story where Jesus stills the storm at sea. Dominic gave a “spiritual warfare” interpretation of this passage. Dominic began by reminding us of what immediately followed the calming of the storm—Jesus conducted an exorcism. This is the version from St. Matthew’s Gospel of what took place when they reached the shore:
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.3
The other Gospels tell us that when Jesus confronted the demons and asked their name, they responded “My name is Legion; for we are many.”4 A legion was a military term for a group of 6,000 Roman soldiers. This name “points to the overwhelming presence of evil in the man and the intensity of the spiritual warfare taking place.”5
Dominic continued by explaining that the evil spirits were already aware before Jesus arrived that He was coming across the sea to drive them out. The storm was a demonic spiritual attack against Jesus and the disciples. It was an attack designed to prevent the exorcism from taking place. The attack failed, however, when Jesus exercised His Divine authority and calmed the storm with a word.
When Jesus arrived at the other side, He engaged the demoniac and cast out the demons into a herd of swine. When the people of that place “came to Jesus, [they] found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.”6
At the time I heard this explanation, I did not have as many “storms” under my belt as I do now. Given the high level spiritual warfare and deliverance prayer associated with the ministry in Nigeria, I credited Dominic’s exegesis as a viable spiritual interpretation of the story. Over the years, however, I could not find commentary or other resources to confirm it. This week, the Holy Spirit gave me that confirmation.
During this week, I was reflecting on this Gospel story again. This time, I picked up a study bible to see if it had any interesting comments. As I reviewed the passage, several footnotes jumped out at me. First, in this passage the Greek word translated as “great storm” is seismos—literally, “earthquake.”7 St. Luke also describes the waves as “raging.”8 Second, the word translated as “rebuked”—“he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea”—comes from the Greek verb epitimao, which is used elsewhere in the Bible in connection with exorcisms and the rebuking of Satan himself.9
These little pieces of information gave me the Scriptural confirmation I needed for Dominic’s exegesis. The violent raging storm was a spiritual attack by a Legion of demons anticipating their confrontation with Jesus. Jesus rebuked the attack and subdued it with a word.
Once Jesus arrived at the shore, we see what appears to be only a brief confrontation between Jesus and the demoniac before Legion is cast out. By the time Jesus had arrived at the shore, however, the deliverance of the demoniac was all but completed. The battle itself had already taken place on the sea. The exorcism was only the mopping up operation. (A mopping up operation is an operation after a battle or campaign to root out remaining enemy forces or installations.)
When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established for ever.10
Twenty years later, I now have the real life experience of many storms. I have told the story of my “even if” moment during the near collapse of my law firm. That storm raged for two years, only to end in a soft landing and the firm being restructured to survive and prosper during the pandemic. I have worked on legal cases where the spiritual warfare lasted for months, only to have Jesus say the word and calm the storm in an instant. There have been many smaller storms involving personal relationships, illness and difficulties that followed the same pattern.
What I have learned is that the storm itself is the battle. This is real spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare can be difficult and dangerous. We can suffer spiritual injuries and there can be spiritual casualties. There can be manifestations of the spiritual warfare in the material world, with negative consequences. We can not survive a minute on the spiritual battlefield without Jesus. We are in the battle with Our Lord and we need a firm faith that He is with us in the storm in order to survive.
When the storm ultimately breaks, the rest is a mopping up operation. Yes, it is still spiritual warfare and we cannot stop praying. Nevertheless, we must realize that the battle itself was won with Jesus in the storm.
In order to prepare for the inevitable storms that will come in life, we must implement and follow a program for Christian spiritual development.11 We must be people of daily prayer. We must study the Scriptures and put them into practice in our lives. Jesus told us how to prepare for the storm:
“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”12
When you are in the storm, ask God for the graces you need to make it through! Have a firm faith in His assistance. The Word of God tells us, “Thou dost rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, thou stillest them.”13 Make frequent prayers of faith such as “Jesus, I trust in you.” Never give up!
Most importantly, enkindle your hope in the storm by praising God and thanking Him in advance for the victory that is coming. Jesus will calm the storm and you will participate in His mopping up operation from the battle. With God’s grace, you will then see and experience yourself what St. Paul describes in his letter to the Romans:
We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.14
Are you in the middle of a storm right now? If you are, take courage for something good is coming.
The Holy Spirit always touches me when I listen to this song and hear this verse:
"The waves and wind still know his name!"
Eric A. Welter is an employment lawyer and trial attorney with a long-time devotion to intercessory prayer. He is a Catholic Christian who has been involved with intercessory and healing prayer ministry for over twenty years. The Abound in Hope Ministry website is https://www.aboundinhope.org/ministry.
Eric’s books on prayer are available in paperback or e-book format on amazon.com.
Effective Intercession for Our Loved Ones: Power Tools for Prayer.
(Available on amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.)
Effective Intercession for Ourselves: “Power Tools” for Prayer (Part Two). (Available on amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.)
Matthew 8:23-27. See also Luke 8:22-25; Mark 4:35-41. Bible references and quotations are from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, unless otherwise specified.
Matthew 8:28-34. See also Luke 8:26-37; Mark 5:1-17.
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (RSV), note on Matthew 8:30.
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (RSV), note at Matthew 8:24.
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (RSW), note at Matthew 8:26 (citing Matthew 17:18, Mark 1:25, Luke 4:41, Jude 1:9).
I briefly outlined the elements of a basic Christian spiritual fortification program at the end of my post on Spiritual Hook and Loop Fasteners.