Many years ago, an old sea captain was quizzing a young naval student.

“What steps would you take if a sudden storm came up on the starboard?”

“I’d throw out an anchor, sir,” replied the student.

“What would you do if another storm sprang up aft?”

“I’d throw out another anchor, sir.”

“But what if a third storm sprang up forward?” the captain asked.

“I’d throw out another anchor, captain.”

“Just a minute, son,” said the Captain. “Where in the world are you getting all these anchors?”

“From the same place you’re getting all your storms!”

This story is a comical reminder that storms and problems come to us all, sometimes from every direction. Even Jesus had storms to deal with.

One day, Jesus and His disciples got into a boat to travel across a huge lake.

They had been ministering to crowds of people all day so Jesus was very tired.

Mark 4:37-39 tells what happened next: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ’Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ’Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (NIV)

We may never know when problems are going to rise but it’s good to know that God is watching over us.

Jeremy Taylor once wrote, “We are safer in a storm with God than anywhere else without Him.”

I can tell you that’s a true statement from personal experience.

The last few days have been a blur for my wife and I.

Sunday night, Crystal and I were at her mom’s house helping her recover from knee replacement surgery.

Suddenly, without warning, Crystal started having severe pain in her abdomen and vomiting.

After praying and waiting for it to pass, I rushed her to the E.R.

Her blood pressure was 206/100!

Crystal said she had never experienced pain like that in her life. (Even after having two children!)

They ran scans and found out she had a bowel obstruction in her small intestine.

They quickly admitted her to the hospital and started preparations for emergency surgery.

She underwent a 3 1/2-hour surgery and God intervened— once the blockage was “unkinked” (like a garden hose) everything started moving normally.

The surgeon did not have to remove any of her intestines!

She also removed Crystal’s appendix as a precaution against any future need for surgery.

Crystal is still in the hospital recovering from her emergency surgery.

In fact, I’m writing this article from her bedside now.

She has a lengthy time of therapy ahead to get back to normal, but God is faithful!

The truth is storms of life are going to come our way; problems will arise from every direction… but we must keep our faith in God and never give up.

As long as the Lord is on our side we can overcome every obstacle, plow through every problem and be safe in any storm!

Rev. Doug Johnson is the senior pastor at Raven Assembly of God in Raven, Virginia.