(Matthew 7:24-27 NIV) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. (26) But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (27) The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
(Luke 6:48 NIV) They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came…
Three types of Storms:
- The storm of disobedience.
(Jonah 1:8-10 NIV) So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” (9) He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (10) This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
The way out of this storm is to repent.
(Jonah 2:9-10 NIV) But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.'” (10) And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
(Jonah 3:1-3 NIV) Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: (2) “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” (3) Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.
- The storm of association arises because of the people you are with.
(Acts 27:9-11 NIV) … So Paul warned them, (10) “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” (11) But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.
(Acts 27:44 NIV) The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
The way out of this storm is to simply endure.
There are three things that you can count on:
- You can have supernatural help while you endure.
(Acts 27:23 NIV) Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me…
- You can still flourish in this storm and God will use you.
(Acts 28:10 NIV) They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
- God will still get you to your destiny.
(Acts 28:16 NIV) When we got to Rome…
- The storm of obedience arises because you follow what the Lord has told you.
(Mark 4:35-41 NIV) That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” (36) Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. (37) A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. (38) Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (39) He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. (40) He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (41) They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The command of faith stills this storm.