There is a tendency to allegorise everything in the Bible. This bit is about me, that bit is about me, all of this can be personally applied to my life. Now, while it's certainly true that all scripture was given for a reason, it is not true that this reason is to draw some kind of personal truth from every verse.
An example of this is the account of Jesus calming the storm. There is certainly a personal application here, but it isn't "Jesus can calm the storm in your heart", as the cliché goes. There is precedent for this, of course. The Bible is replete with instructions about praying in times of trouble or anxiety or other form of burden. Let no one say we serve an aloof God.
But in this case, the application is more about the identity of Christ. We need to remember that the Bible is not designed to tell your story, but God's. It is more about Him than us. He knows who you are, but you need to know who He is. And so the point of calming the storm is actually about His identity, and how we are to respond to Him.
Take note of every element of the account. Jesus said "let us cross over to the other side". Then He slept, and the storm rose up. The disciples woke Him and cried "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" Jesus calmed the storm, and then began to rebuke them, saying "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Then the disciples became very afraid. This time, not of the storm, but of the man who calmed it.
Not a lot of that says this is supposed to be a comforting story about God bringing us peace. It seems to be more about how we respond when we're in trouble. First, note how Jesus is the one who suggested crossing over. It wasn't Peter or another disciple, it was Jesus. This alone should have told them they were going to make it across.
Second, Jesus went to sleep. There's a second cliché about this story (and unfortunately, one I vaguely remember using in the past): "If God is sleeping, you can be too." This is probably not the application, and I repent of preaching it. Perhaps it was wise for the disciples to wake Him. After all, the Bible does tell us, as I have previously mentioned, to cast our burdens upon Him. If God is sleeping, you can certainly try to wake Him. But take a look at His response: "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"
So perhaps they shouldn't have woken Him? No, I believe they were right to wake Him, but look at their response. "Do you not care that we are perishing?" My brethren, it is never a good idea to ask God "do you not care?" Of course He cares! How little faith do you have to have to not only believe that God will command you to do one thing (in this case, cross over to the other side), only to thwart that effort, but also to believe that He does not care? A more appropriate response would have been to wake Jesus and ask Him to either calm the storm, or how to proceed if He will not. This is great faith: To believe that God can do anything, and to trust Him enough to follow even when His actions seems strange. It's easy to trust that Jesus can calm your storms, but what do you do when He doesn't? Do you trust Him anyway?
And that's when we come to the final element: The fear after the storm. The disciples didn't calm down when the storm did. They were terrified of Jesus. "Who is this? Even the wind and sea obey Him!" This is the question we all need to ask ourselves. Who is this? Who is Jesus to you? Do you trust that He can do what He has promised? Do you trust that you can do what He has commanded? Whatever the weather, whether He calms the storm, or increases it, will you trust the Lord Jesus Christ? The ocean obeys Him. Will you?
Recommended song: Calm the Storm - Spoken