Some quotes are meant to be read once. Others are meant to be carried around in your pocket for the hard days. This one, from Jonathan Anthony Burkett, belongs in the pocket:
“Peace is not the absence of the storm. It is knowing who is in the boat with you.”
Jonathan Anthony Burkett
It is short enough to memorize and deep enough to live on. Let’s look at what it means and how we can put it into practice.
Peace Is Not the Same as Calm
Most of us think of peace as the moment everything settles down. The bills are paid. The diagnosis is good. The family argument is over. We tell ourselves, “I’ll have peace when this storm passes.”
But storms have a way of lining up one behind the other. If our peace depends on clear skies, we may wait a very long time.
Jonathan’s quote turns that idea around. Peace is not found in the weather. It is found in the company we keep in the middle of it.
A Life That Knows Storms
Jonathan does not write about storms from a distance. As he shared in his memoir, Neglected But Undefeated, his early childhood with his grandparents in Jamaica was a happy one. At six, he moved back to the United States to live with his mother, where he suffered abuse. By fourteen, he was homeless. On January 30, 2006, he had brain surgery for a disorder that caused seizures, and by God’s grace, it was successful.
None of those storms asked permission. None of them ended quickly. Yet through faith and writing, Jonathan forgave his mother and refused to give up. In his memoir he wrote, “Faith is why I’m here today and faith is why I made it through.”
That is what this quote describes. Not a life without waves, but a life that kept going because of who was in the boat.
Who Is in Your Boat?
Many readers will think of the night Jesus slept in a boat on the Sea of Galilee while His frightened disciples fought the wind and water. When He woke, He calmed the sea with a word. The storm was real, but so was the One in the boat with them.
Jesus also told His followers plainly that trouble would come:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (KJV)
Notice where the peace is: “in me.” Not in the world, not in perfect circumstances, but in Him. Jonathan’s quote is a modern way of saying the same thing.
Living It Out This Week
Here are a few simple ways to practice this kind of peace:
- Name the storm honestly. Peace does not mean pretending. Tell God exactly what you are facing.
- Then name the One with you. Before you list every worry, say it out loud: “God, You are in this boat with me.”
- Look around the boat. God often sends people too. A spouse, a friend, a church family, a neighbor. Let them help you row.
- Be someone’s company. Someone you know is in a storm right now. A text, a meal or a prayer can remind them they are not alone.
- Teach it to your children. When kids are scared of thunder, a test or a new school, you can share this quote with them: the storm is real, but so is the One who loves them.
A Word for Today
Maybe the waves are high where you are. Maybe you have been waiting for the storm to end before you let yourself breathe. Jonathan’s words invite you to breathe now. You do not have to wait for calm water to find peace. You only have to remember who is in the boat with you.
As Jonathan reminds us in another of his best-known lines, “You know my name, not my story. You’ve heard what I’ve done, but not what I’ve been through.” Everyone you meet is carrying a story, and many are in a storm. Peace grows when we remember that none of us is sailing alone.
Through every storm, we rise together.
Who has God placed in your boat during a hard season? Tell us about them in the comments.
Learn more about Jonathan at www.jonathanburkett.com
Follow Jonathan on Instagram and Facebook
Sources: Upstormed Family Magazine Quote of the Day list (approved by Jonathan Anthony Burkett); Jonathan Anthony Burkett, Neglected But Undefeated (published facts); Goodreads, Jonathan Anthony Burkett (quotes); KJV John 16:33
Leave a Reply