The Storms of Life

Over the last few weeks I have been reading about two different guys who faced storms.  First, there was Paul.  In Acts chapter 27 Paul was on his way to Rome.  After more than two years of confinement he appeals to Caesar and is put on the next ship out of town.  Early on in the journey Paul perceives they are heading for trouble.  No one listens to Paul and they find themselves in the middle of a crisis.   A storm of huricane proportions is overwhelming the ship.  After a long struggle God comforts Paul with a word of deliverance.  Encouraged, Paul uses the storm as an opportunity to show his leadership skills and point people to Christ. 

Hundreds of years earlier another follower of God found himself in a storm.  His name was Jonah.  Unlike Paul, he seemed oblivious to everything around him.  While the storm was waging Jonah was asleep inside the ship.  Rather than bringing comfort Jonah was actually the cause of this crews problems. 

What should we learn from these two stories.  First, storms are a part of life.  In Jonah's life the storm was actually sent from God as a form of discipline.  In Paul's life it just happened to be storm season.  And sometimes the enemy of our soul will try and cause a storm to discourage us and get us off track.  Second, storms can wake us up.  They cause us to cry out to God and put our trust in him.  Our need for God is never more real than when we are in the middle of a crisis.  Finally, storms end.  For Jonah the key was obeying God's Word and for Paul the key was holding on to God's word.  God's word is our anchor in the storm.

Drift

Two years ago, I was with my family in Cancun.  My two younger boys and I decided we wanted to go swimming.  I remember wading out into the water about 25 or 30 feet.  After splashing around for a few minutes I noticed we had drifted more than 50 feet from where we originally started.  In order for us to maintain our postition we had to continually reaclimate ourselves to where my wife was sitting.  Drift is one of the biggest problems in the Christian life.  We start out with so much passion for the things of God, but we often get distracted by the things of this world and the worries of life.  Our intentions are not to move away from God, however that is exactly what happens.  The author of Hebrews warns us that we must pay more careful attention so that we do not drift away.  What is he talking about?  He is talking about the Gospel.  Our focus and our attention must continually be reoriented towards Gods' Word.  Because God's Word is alive and active it will continually nugde us and push us back into alignment with God.  This is why the Psalmist said "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path".

Our Compass in a Sea of Change

Baseball umpire Durwood Merrill tells of his rookie year of umpiring in the major leagues.  It was the first time he had called balls and strikes with the famous pitcher, Nolan Ryan.  The second pitch of the game was so fast that Miller never saw it.  He froze, unable to make the call.  Finally he yelled somewhat tentatively, “Strike!”  The batter backed out of the box and said, “Ump, don’t feel so bad, I didn’t see it either!”

This story is a good illustration of what is happening in the world today.  Change is occurring so fast that none of us can see it clearly.  Yet we have to make vital calls and daily decisions about very important things, all the time wondering if we are making the right ones.  There has never been a time when we have needed a standard more in our lives than we do today.  We need a fixed point, a true north, an unchanging standard on which we can base our decisions and not have to worry about changing them.  God has given us such a standard.  It is the Word of God, the Holy Bible.  It contains the rock-solid, never changing, and always-relevant truth.  Unbelievers might say the Bible is irrelevant and outdated.  Believers know that “…the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12)