How to Weather the Storms of Life


Life is like a voyage and the circumstances in life are like the weather, sometimes there is smooth sailing and sometimes there are storms along the way. We are caught up in the storms because we are traveling on the sea of time between two eternities. Sometimes we are caught up in storms which are not our fault and we have to endure the pain of others actions despite the fact that we are not in the storm because of anything that we have done wrong. So often we venture out on a path before consulting with God, a man has a new job opportunity and he takes it because with this new opportunity there is more money, so he moves to another city and takes his kids out of the school in which they have been attending up until this point, he doesn’t pray about it, he doesn’t seek God’s will and the kids don’t have a vote and they are about to enter into a storm and the kids are prisoners on the ship. There are people who are in a marriage who simply want out of the marriage, so they step out without first consulting with God and they bring the storms of life into that home. Paul did not want to sail in Acts 27 and he was a prisoner on a ship entering into a storm.

Here are five ways to sink your ship. The first way is compulsion. Now when much time was spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
 Acts 27:9 It says when much time was spent, so basically they were saying we have stayed around here for long enough, lets do something even if it is wrong. So often people quit school out of compulsion, get divorced out of compulsion, drop out of a job because of compulsion, move from one church to another out of compulsion. People just do something even if it is without the peace or the will of God, saying “It seems as though I am just wasting time where I am so therefore I am going to do something else.” Well you need to stay where God puts you until God tells you to move elsewhere. You are not wasting time when you wait on God. You need to pray about every decision you make, the Holy Spirit of God leads you, he never drives you. Do not make your big decisions until you consult them in prayer.

The second way to sink your ship is consultation. 
 saying , “Men , I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives,” Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. Acts 27:10,11 The centurion believed the ship master rather than the soul master. He listened to the owner of the ship because he was an expert, he knew the waves and the wind. The centurion probably was thinking that preachers can be so impractical, “What does this preacher know about sailing anyway?” In consultation with an expert and contrary to the word of God the centurion makes a decision. Thank God for the experts that is until they contradict the mind, word, and will of God. What authority does a counselor who has been married three times have to council a woman about marriage. You need to consult with God not anyone else, he knows the waves and the wind and he knows which path in which you should take.

The third way to sink your ship is comfort. And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there. Acts 27:12 The place where they were was just not a suitable place to spend the winter. They wanted to pamper their flesh, to take the easy way. Well, the easy way is almost always the hard way and the wrong way. We as Christians are called to endure hardness. The devil always lies to us and tells us to take the easy way, “If it is going to take any rigor of the flesh, any restraint, any discipline, any saying “no” then don’t do it.” So many people make their decisions on the animal plain, animals eat when they want to eat, they drink when they want to drink, they sleep when they want to sleep, they wake up when they want to wake up, they cohabitate when they want to cohabitate, they reproduce when they want to reproduce. It is called “Animal Living”, people make their decisions based on comfort and before too long they are going to be very uncomfortable.

The fourth way to sink your ship is consensus. This comes from Acts 27:12 which was quoted in the beginning of the last paragraph. People make their decisions based on majority vote and it is almost always wrong, even in the church. Don’t do what everyone else is doing because 50 million people can be wrong. Most people already know what they want to do and they already know the decision that they will make but they go from one person to another trying to rack up enough votes, to get enough people to say that they think that it is alright, and still do not consult the mind, the word, and the will of God.

The fifth way to sink your ship is circumstance. When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. Acts 27:13 It said the south wind blew softly like it was a sign, a circumstance that seems right. People think that it is God’s will when there is an opportunity. They don’t check with God, they just check the wind, which ever way the wind is blowing. The wind was blowing softly and despite Paul’s warning they trusted the ship master and the weather and Paul’s warning went ignored and God not trusted. So it was they sailed into the teeth of a storm.

Here are three things you ought to learn if you find yourself in a storm. First thing is that God guarded Paul from the storm as will He guard you. God will take care of you. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men , you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men , for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island.” Acts 27:20-26 It was Paul on board that kept them from drowning, and it is the Christians in this world that keep God from sending down His judgment on the earth. Before the tribulation horrors can take place the Christians have to be taken out of this world. Before God could unleash fire and brimstone on Sodom he had to take Lot out of Sodom. Most people think that Christians are the trouble makers, and one of these days they will be rid of us and then their ship will sink sure enough. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:16-19 Christians will suffer but God still takes care of them. More people are dying for Jesus than any other time in history. However, death does not kill you, he that believes in Jesus shall never die. God will bring us through every storm, He never leaves us in the middle of it, He takes us through it.

Second thing is that God gladdened Paul in the storm. Paul was of good cheer. So it is there is not one storm that can take the joy out of your life. So what do the unsaved do when the stars go out of their sky? They had no radar, no radio, no navigation system, they sailed by the stars by night and the sun by day and they took their measurements from the shore. In Acts 27:20 it says neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. Things are easy when you are just sailing along, when you are able to plot, to plan, to figure, to measure, to guide you ship. But what if there is not a star in sight? People begin to wander, So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. Acts 27:15 A man without God will get blown off course. People begin to work, And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. When they had taken it on board, they used cables to under gird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. Acts 27:16,17 People take more pains to go to Hell then the Christian does to go to Heaven. People say but it is hard to be a Christian, well it is harder not to be. Sin costs labor, people strive in their work, their perspiration is on their brow all to keep afloat and to stand by a bad decision because they do not want to be made wrong. Thinking I can make this work and prove to everyone and myself that I did not make a bad decision. People begin to waste, And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. Acts 27:18,19 They tossed out the cargo. Now profit is not the motive, survival is the motive. Sin is a costly and wasteful thing and it can sometimes cost you everything if you are not careful. People begin to wish, Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come. Acts 27:29 Wishing won’t make it so, it is like walking on egg shells. Wishing has no substance. People begin to withdraw, And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. Acts 27:30-32 You won’t be saved if you run, you will perish. So many times people withdraw into alcohol, into drugs, into divorce, running away from home, dropping out of society, and often withdraw by suicide. Running is not the answer.

Third thing is that God guided Paul through the storm. In Acts 27:24 it said that Paul must testify before Caesar. Also in Acts 23:11the scripture states that Paul must bear witness in Rome, and in Acts 28:14 scripture states and so they went toward Rome. In the middle there was a storm. They were out of the will of God but it did not stop the will of God. Where man rules, God overrules. As Christians we may stumble, we may disobey, we may fall, we may fail but because we are saved, God has predestined us to be like Jesus and all Hell can’t stop it. God has a will for you as he did with Paul. Even though you may see an opportunity where there is none or an opportunity that is out of the will of God, He will still guide you through to His plan, His will, His grand opportunity that He has for you and has had for you all the time, you just need to follow Him and seek Him but because we are human and we drift away on the sea of time just floating along not realizing that we are so far away from God, and it isn’t until we stop focusing on “self” that we look and see what we once were blinded to, we see how far God really is, and it is then that we realize that even though it was a gradual drift we didn’t do anything to stop it, but the Lord is holding our hands, carrying us through the storm, guiding us to His perfect will for our lives. How wonderful because He has something much more grand for us than we ever would have for ourselves but we hold on to this life and this world and all the things that we think are good for us but in the end only cause a storm, but Praise the Lord because He sees us through it every time.