How to smile in the midst of life’s storms …

Smiling isn’t what we usually consider doing when storms rage in our lives.

But being able to smile in the midst of life’s storms changes how we weather those storms, all because of why we can smile in the face of difficulties and trials.

When life hurls its worst or harshest experiences and circumstances at us, we can find great solace in knowing that God is not only our source of comfort, but the source of comfort …

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort,” 2 Corinthians 1:3.

There’s a story told by Robert Louis Stevenson that can give us a little deeper insight into this verse. Stevenson recounts the tale of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea.

The pilot saw the watcher and smiled.

Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: “I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well.”

As Jesus Christ steers our lives along the Way (“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life …'” John 14:6a), sure of His piloting for us, He looks at us and smiles. He knows life has its storms, but He knows who He is as steerman of our journey on the Way. Jesus stated that idea like this …

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.

Having yielded the helm of our lives to Jesus Christ, and knowing that God is the source of all comfort, we can smile in the face of life’s storms, knowing that Jesus will steer us to safe shores, and God will be our source of comfort all along the way.

Scotty