Life’s Storms
How do we get through life’s problems?
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To consider how the weather can be used as a metaphor for how we feel and the problems that we face.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Life's Storms) and the means to display them.
- You will also need the Bible passage found in Matthew 14.22-33. It is available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdvs56kh
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the students, ‘What problems do these storms cause?’
Go through each image in turn, giving the following explanation.
- Hurricanes (upper-left image) cause trees and property to be damaged.
- In a thunderstorm (upper-right image), lightning damages trees and can cause fires if the wood is dry.
- A sandstorm (lower-left image) causes a reduction in visibility. Sand gets in people’s eyes and mouths, making it difficult to see and breathe.
- In a snowstorm (lower-right image), icy roads make it difficult to drive or walk. - Show Slide 2.
Remind the students that a metaphor is a direct comparison, usually between two unlike things.
Explain that we could use a storm as a metaphor for how we feel sometimes. Expressing that we feel like we are in a storm can be a creative way to explain our emotions when we feel like things are going wrong or we don’t know what to do.
If we expand the storm metaphor to weather, we can consider how the weather changes like our emotions change. One day, we might feel sad, like the rain dripping down a window. However, the following day, our circumstances may have changed and we might feel happy, like glorious sunshine. - The Bible tells us about a time when Jesus’ disciples experienced a storm while they were out in their boat on a lake.
Read, or ask a student to read, the Bible passage found in Matthew 14.22-33.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’
‘Come,’ Jesus said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’ - Explain that Peter must have trusted Jesus a lot to step out of the boat in a storm! However, soon after he began to walk on the water, he became afraid, took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Jesus reached out, took hold of Peter and helped him back into the boat.
- Show Slide 3.
Remind the students that most stories have some sort of problem that can be described as a storm. However, ‘storms’ often have a purpose too.
There can be positive problems as well as negative ones. For example, a positive problem could involve trying to decide between two ideas for a birthday party or two places to go on holiday. Whatever we decide, the result is positive.
Sometimes, problems can have both positive and negative outcomes. Take Covid, a negative problem that made lots of people ill, changed how we were educated and limited our freedom. In years to come, historians will write about what we had to do, what happened in our schools and how we had to stay at home.
But there were some positive outcomes from the Covid pandemic too. Due to how Covid was treated, doctors and scientists were able to find new ways to deliver vaccines and treat other illnesses like cancer. Another positive outcome is that many people came to appreciate the importance of talking about mental health. - Mental health is just as important as physical health. When we talk about our mental health, we’re explaining how we are feeling in our head. There are many words that we might use to describe how we feel.
Show Slide 4.
Read out the words on the slide: happy, excited, grateful, angry, relaxed, content, tired, stressed, unsure, bored, anxious and sad. - Show Slide 5.
Ask the students, ‘What should we do if we experience a stormy problem?’
Show Slide 6.
- Keep going. Remind the students that sometimes, in a storm, the first thing that we need to do is to keep going. If the disciples had stopped rowing, the boat would have capsized in the waves. So, if we can, it’s better not to sink into our problems because this may make our mental health worse.
- Take courage. Jesus’ advice to the disciples was to take courage, even when things look bad. Having a positive mindset during a problem can make it easier to solve. Negative thoughts such as ‘I can’t do this’, ‘This is stupid’ and ‘I’m going to give up’ strongly influence the actions that we will take.
- Step out. In the Bible story, Peter stepped out of the boat so that he could walk to Jesus. When we have a stormy problem, even though it may seem scary, we need to find ways to have courage and take a step out, even though we may not want to.
- Ask for help. Taking a step out can mean asking for help. Sometimes, when we’re having negative thoughts and feeling down, it can be really hard to ask for help. However, asking for help is probably the most important step to take when solving a stormy problem.
- Keep calm. Sometimes, our problems can be resolved quickly when we ask for help, but at other times, it might take a bit longer. The main thing to do when sorting out a problem is to stay calm because that will make it easier. It can be quite hard to do this, especially if we’re upset with someone. Sometimes, counting to ten in our head before we speak can help us to stay calm in a sudden anger storm.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 7.
Tell the students that just before the storm, Jesus had carried out an amazing miracle where he had fed 5,000 people with a handful of loaves and fishes. Following the storm, when the disciples were on the other side of the lake, they saw Jesus carry out further miracles by healing the sick.
The storm was sandwiched between two miracles, but the disciples didn’t know that. They just needed to get to the other side of their problem.
When we experience problems in life, we don’t know what’s on the other side, but we need to get through the storm to discover what’s there. There could be something really positive waiting for us. When we’ve resolved our problem, we will take something from it: the knowledge and wisdom to know how to handle our next problem, which will help to develop our mental health.
Remind the students about the systems that are in place for them to talk to people about any problems that they might be facing.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the story of the disciples in the storm, and the lessons that we can learn from it.
Please help us to talk about our mental health.
When we face problems, please help us to know that we can ask someone to help us.
Please help us in life’s storms.
Please give us people to help us on our way.
Amen.
Song/music
‘You’ll never walk alone’ by Duncan Laurence, sung at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, available at: https://youtu.be/fIVgOypab1s (3.21 minutes long)
