Devotional for Sunday, 8/28/11
HURRICANE!
The verses below describe when Paul was a prisoner on a ship sailing for Italy. He had warned them that there was going to be great loss if they continued on their course, but they did not listen to him:
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along...
When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” Acts 27:13-15, 20-26 NIV
Our East coast is experiencing a huge hurricane this weekend. Some have listened to the advice to board up and evacuate, but others have not. There even have been injuries to people foolish enough to stand out on a pier who were knocked around by some massive waves before the storm fully hit. There has been loss of life and property as well as torrential rains and flooding causing major shut downs of public transportation. In spite of plenty of warning ahead of time and tons of preparation in response, there are still going to be destructive storm results.
This is much like our own lives. We have God's instruction book for life, the Bible. But we don't always follow the instructions He gives us. We may think we know a better way, or are enticed by something that appears to be what it is not, or believe that certain things no longer apply in the world today. That is all a part of this sinful world and can lead us right into the middle of the storms of life. But if we "keep up our courage" and have faith in God in the midst of our storms, He will guard and guide us on our way and see us through. We will survive these storms and can do so without fear, as if forever in the eye of the storm. God is always with us!
written by Jan Andersen, in the eye of the storm of life
How clever and meaningful to draw a comparison to life and her storms. If we trust in God there is nothing to fear. We are His and his storms can be navigated with in His eye. Regardless the strength of the storm or its danger we can rest assured that whatever happens we are within His plan. Good one Jan!
ReplyDeleteThanks Corinne.
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