StormProofናሙና

There are seasons in life when conditions may seem to go from absolutely terrible to entirely debilitating. Such was the situation in which Paul found himself in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. 

There will be times when you will be unable to control the events that are rebelliously gusting into your life. During those moments, as you taste the saltiness of fear and as you hang on to anything that seems stable, always remember you have an Anchor. 

Your security is found in clinging to a relationship with Jesus Christ. When the salt water of circumstances leaves a slimy aftertaste in your mouth and when the world around you is threatening and inconsistent, find your Anchor and let Him hold you fast amid the uncontrollable waters of your life. 

In the midst of the great storm that Paul and his fellow travelers were experiencing, “they began to jettison the cargo” (Acts 27:18). When that decision didn’t lighten their load sufficiently, “they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands” (verse 19). 

The desperate crew had no choice but to dump all of the cargo that was not necessary for the saving of their boat or of their very lives. What changes do you need to implement in order to steer clear of the rocky coastline you are being tossed toward and make it through your storm unscathed? What might you need to jettison out of your life? 

Paul, who had endured so much for the gospel of Jesus Christ, told these frightened and waterlogged individuals, “Keep up your courage”! Paul wasn’t threatened by, or afraid of, the storm, because he was more aware of the strength of God than he was of his own weakness. 


Where does a person find courage when the wind is wailing and the visibility is nearly zero? Where does courage come from when an ordinary man or woman is in the middle of a downpour of disappointment or a deluge of despair? Where is courage in that moment? 

Hidden in Paul’s words is a four-word phrase that holds the key to courageous living: “For I believe God...” (verse 25). 

We are the children of the King of the ages, and He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we might choose to be brave even in the fiercest storm or the hottest fire.