Storms

I've been reading through Acts lately. In Acts 27, Paul is being sailed to Rome to appeal to Caesar for his accused crimes from sharing the gospel of Jesus. On the way, they encounter a terrible storm of hurricane force. They were forced to throw all their cargo and tackle overboard and their ship wrecked. Paul heard from God in a dream that He would spare the lives of all who were sailing, but their ship would be destroyed. Paul shared this with everyone and was confident that they would all live through the ordeal, even though their ship was going to be destroyed in the process.

This made me think of the other storms in the Bible, particularly the one the disciples faced with Jesus on the boat. Jesus was sleeping through the storm and he even rebuked the disciples for being afraid of the storm. He assured them that He would protect them from the storm.

via

It seems to me that God is in the business of protecting us from storms. Because storms are inevitable, aren't they? No matter where we live, we are guaranteed to get some rough weather along the way. I mean, that's just science. And I think the same is true for our personal lives. No matter how perfectly things seem to be going, eventually we will all face personal storms. Those storms may be broken and hurting relationships, financial burdens, job loss or not feeling fulfilled at work, the stress of everyday obligations, a series of bad decisions, and even the death of loved ones. Some storms are worse than others. Some are of hurricane force and some are just afternoon thunder showers. We're likely to get a mix of everything in our lives.

But despite that fact, there is GOOD news! God promises to see us through the storms. Just like he literally saw Paul and the disciples through their storms, He will see us through our proverbial storms as well. That's not to say there won't be devastation. The ship Paul was on lost everything but their lives...all their belongings and even the ship itself. Basically, they barely got out alive. So, don't lose faith when things seem to be falling apart around you. Don't let doubt set in. God is there with you. He is walking you through the storm. Even if He chooses to not pull you from it immediately, He will see you through it.

And even if we do lose our lives now...we have the amazing gift of eternal life with Jesus in Heaven waiting for us on the other side. So, it's not much of a loss at all.

This is so easy to preach when things are good. It's so hard to say and believe and trust when you're right in the middle of the storm. I get that. I've been there. But I hope this can serve as a reminder to you that God is with you and He will not let you be destroyed. You may be hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed! (2 Corinthians 4:8) And that is something worth proclaiming!

With His love,
Christy