My alarm this morning was an emergency alert tone blaring from a smartphone. The message read: ​“TORNADO WARNING. TAKE IMMEDIATE SHELTER.” 

Adrenaline pumping, my wife and I woke our three kids. The five of us crowded on couch cushions in our hallway and waited for the storm to pass. Moments like these give you a little more empathy for the disciples caught in a storm on the boat.

Thankfully the warning was soon lifted. Twenty minutes later the weakened storm had passed over us. We went back to bed and I awoke again at my usual time to find my soul disquieted — a debris of heaviness left behind from the winds of fear. 

I’m feeling lighter now, God’s grace coming through many means — exercise, reading Scripture aloud, one friend’s prayer and another friend’s music.

It’s no secret that stress squeezes out what’s already in us. Sudden stress, like this morning’s storm, in one way. Prolonged stress, like the pandemic, in another.

Sometimes under stress we return to old habits of thought and action. Jesus always wants better for us — sometimes better than we want for ourselves. He’s present both in the moment to guide us and out of the moment to train us. 

We’ll be talking about this on a live webinar with Rebecca DeYoung, author of Glittering Vices, along with Chris Hall and Carolyn Arends, this Tuesday at 1pm EDT. (Register here.)

And on the Renovaré Podcast this week Lane Cohee, a business leader in the defense and aerospace sector, provides some practical advice for bringing a disquieted soul to Jesus, as he shares in this honest conversation with Nathan Foster.

May the peace of Jesus sustain your heart during life’s storms,