Storm Warnings...Take Cover

Have you ever had a season of uncertainty?  It seems like your life has seen one storm after another?  Matter of fact, you don't hardly recover from one storm before another blows in?  

I think all of us can answer yes to those questions at some point in our lives!

This morning, I was continuing to read in Acts and was reminded that sometimes, those storms serve a purpose because we wouldn't normally place ourselves in tough situations to be used by God.  I am reminded some storms are short and others seem to never end, but God never leaves us. 

In Acts 27, Paul, along with 275 others, set sail for Rome.  On this ship, Paul is being guarded a hardened Roman centurion named Julius because he has been jailed for his faith. They sailed for a couple days without much difficulty but starting in verse 7, the storm begins brewing.  They made slow headway for many days and has difficulty arriving where they were headed. The wind did not allow them to hold their course and sailing became dangerous. 

A gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they anchored down.  Before very long, a wind of hurricane force came & they ended up giving way to the storm and were driven along. They took a violent battering from the storm and finally gave up all hope of being saved. Once the storm finally passed and they were safely on shore at Malta, the  islanders showed them unusual kindness even they didn't really realize who they were. While on the island, a man named Publius, who owned a rather large estate, welcomed them into his home.  His father was sick in the bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.  When this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured (Acts 28:1-9). 

The story goes on but this is where I stopped and conversed with God.  

In the beginning of the story, a phrase caught my attention that hasn't before: "they thought they had obtained what they wanted".  Have you ever been there...where you thought you WANTED to be only to find out it's not the place you NEED to be?  I'd say before the storm was over, Paul had wished he had landed somewhere else.  And I'm pretty sure Paul didn't see how God was going to use him when he was on that ship in the middle of a violent storm.  I feel certain Paul wouldn't have willingly went if he knew the storms he would have to face because we don't place ourselves in the middle of a storm.  Matter of fact, when we get a storm warning on the television, radio or any other electronic device, we run for cover.  But I am reminded that there are times when God uses us in the middle of the storms to bless someone else.  I have seen it first hand when the tornado ripped across Alabama on April 27, 2011.  People turned out in droves to be the hands and feet of Christ.  

And if Paul hadn't endured the storm and jumped overboard, Publius father and all the islanders who were sick wouldn't have been healed.  So storms, while unpleasant to be in the middle of, can serve a purpose.  We may not willingly head out into the storm, but the winds may shift and we may find ourselves in the middle of it, but God can use us there and He will direct us through it.  So go ahead and praise Him through the storm as Paul did...maybe He has you there to show Him off!

Until