Taking It to Work:
Storms shook, tested, and taught the Apostles. And if you have ever been caught in a night time offshore torrent, in a small boat, with a dead engine, let me tell you, it would shake, test, and teach you too. Why? Well, even if you think you have a good measure of faith, I think it is the random nature of all the elements coming at you at once – wind, strong to begin with then all of a sudden gusting, the boat rocking, but not predictably, and sometimes very suddenly, the noise of the waves slapping and jarring the boat, lightening flashes giving you only a short instances of vision, then dead black until your eyes can adjust again, open hatches slamming behind you, water sloshing a round your ankles, salt spray stinging your eyes. The wondering if the bilge pump will keep up, how long the storm will last . . . and finally, if severe enough, and to my disgrace, wondering if God is really there.
You may never face an offshore torrent, but we all are guaranteed “life-storms”, right here on dry land. When life-storms hit us, it seems everything around us is going wrong. It seems like the protected life of faith in God is overtaken with gust after gust, wave after wave, of unbridled misfortune and challenge. Sometimes the rain in these life-storms can be years-long and very faith-eroding, and we can wonder if we will have any faith left at all. We wonder, like the Apostles, “Lord Jesus, do you not care we are perishing?”
In business and in the workplace, in life and in family, some of these storms can seem insurmountable and unrelenting. Situations that seem hopeless can take down our Godly countenance and truly test our faith. If you are there right now, hold firm to what the Lord is calling you to do, or calling you through. Stay close to Him; read His Word; don’t deviate from His principles, and don’t lose hope. Jesus is in the boat with you, and you will get through it. Stay the course of faith, as His Word, and whirlwind, work in you, today.
Psalm 107:28-30 (ESV) – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
Mark 4:38-40 (ESV) – But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Matt 14:30 (ESV) – But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Heb 10:39 (ESV) – But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):
My peace be with you. The storm is not fatal; I Am with you. Fear not the coming wave, not the mighty wind. The elements themselves are in My rule. The journey will continue along a guided path. Do not worry, for I Am closer than the storm that surrounds. Adjustment to the path, a remembrance of your own limits, a draw to Me – I call you through. My voice sounds the way. Trust in My leading, and your way will be My own. My hand is always with My children. In storm and death, in the spring of new birth, come to Me that you would have rest. Pray that your decisions in the storm would be of My greatest will. Decide for others before yourself. Put first the laws of the Kingdom, then the laws of man. Do not sin in your strain. Follow, obey, and the storm will pass, and your way will be preserved, and your strength renewed.
