(Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV) “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
(Luke 6:46-49 NKJV) “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? (47) Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: (48) He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. (49) But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
- Jesus taught us that the storms of life come to everybody!
- Storms come to good people!
- Jesus taught us that you can be prepared for the storm!
Three types of storms that come into our lives:
- The storm of disobedience – Jonah and his disobedience.
(Jonah 1:1-17 NKJV) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, (2) “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (3) But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. (4) But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. (5) Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. (6) So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” (7) And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. (8) Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” (9) So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (10) Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. (11) Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”–for the sea was growing more tempestuous. (12) And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” (13) Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. (14) Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, “We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You.” (15) So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. (16) Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows. (17) Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The way out of this storm is to repent.
The simple way out of the storm like that is to repent and your storm will throw you up on the beach and you can continue on with your life.
(Jonah 2:1 NKJV) Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
(Jonah 2:9-10 NKJV) But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” (10) So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Just because you repent does not exempt you from whatever it was that you were faced with that led to the disobedience. Jonah still had to go to Nineveh and preach to them.
(Jonah 3:1-5 NKJV) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, (2) “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” (3) So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. (4) And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (5) So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
(Jonah 3:6-10 NKJV) Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. (7) And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. (8) But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. (9) Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? (10) Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
- The storm of association arises because of the people you are with.
Paul encountered a storm and hardship because of the people he was with.
(Acts 25:6-12 NKJV) And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. (7) When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, (8) while he answered for himself, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.” (9) But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?” (10) So Paul said, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. (11) For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.” (12) Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!”
(Acts 27:9-12 NKJV) Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, (10) saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.” (11) Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. (12) And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.
(Acts 27:13-20 NKJV) When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. (14) But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. (15) So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. (16) And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. (17) When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. (18) And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. (19) On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. (20) Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
(Acts 27:21-26 NKJV) But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. (22) And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. (23) For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, (24) saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ (25) Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. (26) However, we must run aground on a certain island.”
(Acts 27:39-44 NKJV) When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. (40) And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. (41) But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves. (42) And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. (43) But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, (44) and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.
The way out of this storm is to simply endure.
Three things that you can count on:
- You can have supernatural help while you endure.
(Acts 27:23 NKJV) For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve,
- You can still flourish in the midst of this storm and God will use you.
(Acts 28:1-10 NKJV) Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. (2) And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. (3) But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (4) So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” (5) But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. (6) However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (7) In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. (8) And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. (9) So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. (10) They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.
- God will still get you to your destiny.
(Acts 28:16 NKJV) Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
- The storm of obedience arises because you follow what the Lord has told you.
(Mark 4:35-41 NKJV) On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” (36) Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. (37) And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. (38) But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (39) Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. (40) But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (41) And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
The disciples encountered a storm when they did as Jesus commanded and were going to the other side. They were simply obeying the Lord’s instructions.
There is a misconception that when you are walking in the will of God, everything always goes smooth with no difficulties.
This storm arose because the devil did not want deliverance to come to this man and in turn that region through Jesus.
The command of faith stills the storm.
Use your authority and faith to still the storm and the opposition coming from the enemy.
Jesus spoke to the storm saying, “Be silent and muzzled” and the wind ceased (“to cease because of extreme fatigue or being worn out with labor”).
The “mega” calm that came after Jesus spoke surpassed the “mega” storm that came to oppose them.