Storms You Can Avoid Series

Standing in the Storm 2

(Storms we can Avoid)

Matthew 7:24-27:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

We started a study of “Standing in the Storms” last week and found.

Every person regardless of their spirituality or lack of has storms.

At one time or another, we have all experienced storms in our lives. Perhaps you are in the middle of one right now. Maybe it’s a storm of sickness or depression. It could be a financial situation or some sort of strife in a relationship.

Storms can take on a lot of different forms but they all share a common tendency. They tend to inhibit or stop your progress toward the wonderful plan God has for your life.

The first thing you must know is this: That trouble isn’t God punishing you or trying to teach you something. Trouble comes simply because we live in a world filled with tribulation.

(John 16:33)In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

The second truth we discover in these verses is this: If you are a doer of the Word, the house of your life will not fall when a storm comes. Jesus said that, as a doer of the Word, you can be assured that, not only will those storms not destroy you, they won’t even shake you up!

Is There a Storm in Your Life?

If you are or have recently been shaken by a storm, you need to ask yourself, “Is there an area of my life in which I am not doing the Word?"

Notice that the basic issue isn’t a lack of faith or knowledge.

VERSE 24 said, Whosoever heareth... So, we must be talking about those who have heard.

And since faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), we can assume that some, whose houses fell, did in spite of the fact that they had faith.

24 "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them..." The key to weathering the storms of life, unaffected, is doing the Word.

IF you have Faith and the Word, How can you fail?

James 2:20 says, "faith without works is dead."

A good example of this would be someone who believes it would be better for them if they quit smoking yet continues to smoke.

The bottom line isn’t what you believe (although I don’t want to minimize the importance of faith). It’s what you do.

Someone has a sick friend and decides to do, James 5:14-15. It says:

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;

In a sincere desire to do what the Word says here, they call for the elders of the church, anoint the friend with oil and then pray a prayer that includes, Lord, if it be thy will, heal him.

Did that person do the Word? No. The passage in James said the prayer of faith would save the sick. There was no prayer of faith. The result is a person who truly believes they are a doer of the Word, but in reality are not.

Here’s another pitfall that leads many people to the mistaken conclusion that the Word isn’t working. They evaluate how well they are doing the Word only in the area in which they are having trouble. In other words, if the storm is in the area of finances, they only check their obedience to the Word in matters such as tithing or giving. The problem is, a failure to do the Word in one area can leave you open to storms in another.

Don’t make the mistake of deciding whether or not you are doing the Word by just evaluating the area in which the crisis has come.

Be honest with yourself. You know God’s Word is true. Realize that if a storm is shaking you, it isn’t anybody else’s fault. God says, "If you do the Word, you’ll pass through this adversity without even being shaken."

Ask God to show you where you are not doing the Word.