Navigating the Storm — The Need for Understanding

 

“With all your getting, get understanding.”

— Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV)

Over recent days, I’ve been aware that much of life seems to turn on the simple yet profound desire to be understood. In conversation, in silence, in moments of tension or calm — that need surfaces again and again. When we are understood, we rest. When we’re not, we struggle.

It reminds me of being in a boat with others. We may share the same vessel, the same direction, and the same waves — yet if we don’t truly understand one another, it can still feel lonely and uncertain. Misunderstanding creates distance even in the closest of spaces. The waters feel rougher when we cannot read one another’s hearts.

With Laddie (on the right), whose hearing has faded so much now, I’ve discovered that understanding doesn’t depend on sound. Our communication has shifted to something quieter — gestures, looks, and shared knowing. Over time, this silent understanding has brought a deeper peace between us than words ever could.

Then there’s Sunshine (on the left). When she races off unexpectedly, I sometimes feel a flicker of anxiety — not knowing what she’ll do next. But the more often she returns, the more trust grows. Familiarity replaces fear. Understanding begins to take root.

I see the same truth in human life. Much of our unease — the frustration, the distance, the sadness — springs from feeling misunderstood. We long for someone to know us, to grasp what we mean, to hear what we can’t quite express. And though we glimpse that sometimes in others, the only one who truly understands us completely is God.

He sees the motives beneath our mistakes, the longing beneath our anger, the hope beneath our silence. His understanding reaches where no human understanding can. When we rest in that, the storm inside us begins to calm.

Understanding, then, is not something we possess but something we receive. It is the quiet assurance that God knows us fully and loves us still. In that knowledge, we find the peace to sit again in the boat — with Him, with others, and with ourselves.

“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

— Philippians 4:7 (NKJV)