Annie and I had the pleasure of visiting C3 Long Island this past Sunday. Our friends Phil and Denise Buechler are the Senior Ministers and this is the church that our daughter, Rachel, and her husband, Steve, are a part of. Pastor Phil graciously gave us a few minutes in both Sunday morning services to share on what we had been doing in Brazil and how they can be a part of the on-going work there.
Long Island was hit very hard by Hurricane Sandy. Pastor Phil’s message was on-point after what so many of them just went through. The message was entitled “Surviving Life’s Storms” and I am going to be using some of his thoughts and ideas over the next two blogs. I hope you enjoy it.
Storms are going to come. They hit Christians and non-Christians alike. Both natural and spiritual storms have the capacity to be very damaging and destructive. They are the result of living in a fallen world.
The question becomes, “How Do I Respond to the Storms of Life?” The Scriptures provide three ways for us to respond to the storm.
1. Rebuke the Storm. There are some some storms that God wants us to take authority over and rebuke. Some storms come so that God’s power can be shown. Jesus must have been a heavy sleeper. He was sleeping through a terrible storm in an open boat on the Sea of Galilee. Many of the disciples were experienced fisherman and boatmen, yet this storm had them terrified. How scared did the disciples have to be when they, the experienced boatmen, had to ask the Carpenter for help?
After Jesus woke up, wiped the sleep out of His eyes, He stood and said “to the water, “Quiet down!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.” I can’t even imagine how this must have looked. One moment there was wind, rain, and the fear of the small boat capsizing and sinking. The next moment, everything was calm.
There are going to be times when God will allow us take authority over the storm/problem/test/trial that comes against us. If we are willing to exercise our faith and trust God, we might just find that the storm/problem/test/trial that looked so big has now disappeared or shrunk to insignificance. Sometimes God wants us to stand up and speak to the storm/problem/test/trial and command it to be thrown into the sea. Faith can move mountains and calm storms.
To be continued…
Have you ever rebuked a storm? What happened?
We are so thankful for those who are investing in our ministry to Brazil! If you would like to be a part, here is the link. Obrigado! (Thank you!)
