If You Want To Survive The Storm, You Have To Stay In The Ship

Acts 27:30

Topic: If you want to survive the storm, you must stay in the ship

As we look around in our country today, as we watch the six o’clock news, or the CNN Network, or read the newspaper at home, make no doubt about it, we see ourselves in a storm. We are in a storm in because everyday many people today are losing their jobs, losing their homes to foreclosure, and they don’t have enough money to pay their bills. There are many families today that are so depressed and stressed out because they do not know how they are going to survive from a day to day basis. And because many families are going through some tough times right now, we have been hearing reports how some of the head of the households are killing off their own families, ending their lives because they feel that there is no way out of their dilemma and they feel like there is no hope for them for the future.

But yet in the midst of the storm that we are in, there is still hope for us the future, especially hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 31:24: says, “Be of good courage. And he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

Psalm 71:5 says, For thou art my hope, O Lord God; thou are my trust from the youth.”

Psalm 146:5 says, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”

Jeremiah 17: 7 says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.”

It is a sweet relief in knowing that no matter what you are going through, no matter what storm you are facing, there is hope for you in the Lord for the present and there is hope for you in the future because of God is able to blessed you and sustain you even in the midst of the storm that we are in right now because in Psalm 37:25-26 says, I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed his blessed.” Yes, God is able to take care of us in the midst of the storm that we are. But if you want to be able to survive the storm that we are now in, we need to stay in the ship.

Now, in these passage of scriptures, we read about how Paul the Apostle was a calming influence to his shipmates while they were trying sail and navigate themselves through a dangerous sea storm. Now, Paul was on this ship as an prisoner being transported to Rome to appear before Ceasar because of his faith and because preaching the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus in places where he was not received well.

In Acts 27:9-10, Paul had tried to persuade the centurion and the captain of the ship to wait for better weather to come before setting out to sail because at that day and time, the weather was becoming somewhat dangerous for sailing. But the centurion and the captain of the ship had decided to take a gamble, and take their chances and they decided to sail out into the sea despite of the bad weather conditions because they had some cargo that needed to be transported along with some prisoners that needed to be brought to Rome for imprisonment. And because the centurion and the captain of the ship decided against Paul’s advice not to set out sailing in the sea since the weather was becoming bad for sailing at the time, the scripture tells us that they found themselves sailing right into a dangerous sea storm.

Question: Has there been a time in your life that you found yourself in a storm simple because you did not want to listen to nobody? Moma was trying to tell you something, Daddy was trying to tell you something, Grandma and Granddaddy was trying to tell you something, your uncle was trying to tell you something, your aunt was trying to tell you something, your teacher at school was trying to tell you something, your best friend was trying to tell you something, your boyfriend or girlfriend was trying to tell you something, your husband or wife was trying to tell you something, the Preacher or the Deacon was trying to tell you something. I mean, has there been anybody in your life that was trying to tell you something what was going to be helpful for you. But because you wanted to do your own thing, and you did not want to listen to nobody, you have found yourself in a storm that it was going to be hard to get out of.