As a mom of three boys, having endured my fair share of dramatic tantrums, I can assure you this truth: not all meltdowns are the same.

First, there are the light weights: these are the flare-ups that end almost as quickly as they begin. Next are the heavy weights: these are the ones that last long enough to ruin your mood for the remainder of the day. And then there are the welter weights: these are like volcanic eruptions that must be met — head on — with a strong, unwavering response. And anytime the welter weight meltdowns occurred, I always had to get their dad on speakerphone. His voice had the power to break through the chaos when mine wouldn’t make a dent.

This same principle is highlighted in the story (found in Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; and Luke 8:22-25), in which Jesus and His disciples got into a boat to escape the crowds. According to all three accounts, a great storm arose on the lake while Jesus slept soundly on a cushion in the stern. Waves crashed against the sides of the vessel, and it began to fill with water. Gripped with fear, the disciples awoke Jesus, crying out that they were about to perish.

Sound familiar? Life is humming along. Work is steady. Family is healthy. Finances are strong. Everyone is happy. It’s all good…until…well…it isn’t.

Fairytales — which make great stories — aren’t actual blueprints we can replicate. Instead, life is a concoction of joyous milestones and amazing accomplishments, interspersed with messy relationships, sad news and bad decisions. Betrayal. Rejection. Disappointment. Bankruptcy. Divorce. Miscarriage. Disease. Addiction. Trauma. Death. At some point, we are all blindsided by some form of unforeseen, unanticipated event, and we will sink like a rock to the bottom of a dark and depressing pit unless we have an anchor that keeps us afloat. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 43:2, which says:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

While we cannot always prevent hardships, we do have a say in how we navigate them. Our options are to invite our Heavenly Father to join us on the pain-filled path or journey the rough road alone.

In the Gospel story above, when Jesus heard His disciples cry out for help, it says that He turned and rebuked the wind and the sea. Immediately, the raging wind stopped and the churning water settled down. That’s exactly what Jesus did for me. When I asked Him to guide me through rejection, infertility, betrayal and abandonment issues, Jesus supernaturally quelled my internal rage. Every. Single. Time.

So what anchors you when a tempest of trouble rolls in? Do you isolate? Self-medicate? Shove the emotions down and wear a mask to make it look like you’ve got it all together?

The next time dark clouds of difficulty gather on your horizon, and gale-force winds whip up a tsunami of emotions that threaten to pull you down into the great deep, remember this: you don’t have to navigate the rough waters alone. Jesus will always see you through it. Every. Single. Time.

Photo: pexels.com/@matthardy