Prepared For The Storm

​ Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It makes you storm-proof.  Your faith is revealed not in the calm, but in the storm.  Most people crumble in storm, they get washed away.  But God uses storms.  He has purpose in the storm.  Sometimes He even sends them, but He always uses them.  #1 To show himself strong  - Isaiah 25:4 – But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O LORD, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat… Psalm 107:28 – Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.  What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely to their desired haven.    He uses the storm #2  To test and build your faith –  Mark 4:37 – And a violent storm arose, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.  The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”  Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea, “Peace!  Be Still!”  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  Then he asked them, “Why are you so fearful? “Do you still have no faith?”  Storms reveal your faith.  How do you react in a storm?  Do you worry, fear, panic, blame, row harder?  They are just a test.  How many storms have you had in your life?  How many killed you?  They will test you, and they can shipwreck those who aren’t prepared for them. Sometimes God sends even them.   - #3 To remove or reposition things.  Whether the wicked, or wicked things in you, or you.  Psalms 148:7 – Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding.  Nahum 1:3 – The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the wicked unpunished.  His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.  Proverbs 10:25 – When the storm has passed, the wicked are no more, but the righteous stand firm forever.  God can use a storm to remove the wicked, or remove some wicked things in you.  Jonah 1:4 – Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.  Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship…  v12 Throw me into the sea, and it will become calm again.  God can use a storm to remove the wicked, to remove some things from your life that do not honor him, or reposition you to where He wants you to be.  But sometimes storms just come.  You don’t know Him as your Strong Tower – unless you need to run to Him.  Storms require running to Him.  In the storm is where you find where your faith is.  He is the God who is near, in the storm, He’s right there with you. He’s the Strong Tower in the storm, He’s the one that delivers you through the storm. He’s the one that says – “Peace, Be Still, and calms the waves.  Your faith grows stronger in the storm.  Idols are worthless in the storm, whatever else you may have started to put your trust in, gets swept away in the storm.  What is a storm?  A loss or threat of loss.  God brings storms, or God allows storms.  The devil brings storms to make you lose your footing, to lose faith, or lose hope.  He wants to destroy you – but he can only do what God allows.  And God promised that He would never bring anything too difficult for you – more than you can bear.  Storms first appear on the horizon.  Storms start with the invitation to worry, fear or doubt – what might happen.  That’s the devil seeking to devour you – cause you to fret.  Storms can come with a word; a letter, a law, a doctors report, an unexpected bill, or a pink slip.  Storms come when loss, difficulty or tragedy strike.  Life on earth comes with loss, disappointment, adversity, and calamity.  Those times will come, the times that try men’s souls.  So what will you do in the middle of the storm?  Put your trust in God, put your hope in him.  You can’t control the waves, but you can control your words, and your words direct your thoughts, and your heart, and make way for you victory.  Are you in a storm right now?  How are you doing?  What would you do today if a storm strikes?  How do you prepare for the storms that will inevitably come.  Luke 6:47 – I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them.  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been built on the rock.  (CEV – “It was built so well, it didn’t even shake.”)  God wants you unshakable in the storm.  That happens before the storm comes.  Praying that you will prepare for the storm, by building well.  The rock you build on prepares you for the storm, the Rock is Jesus – the Word of God.  Every time you fill your heart with His Word, and obey the next step of His leading, you are laying that foundation so when the storm comes – you are unshakeable.  Praying that your testimony has you overcoming daily, that as iron sharpens iron, you are sharpening someone and being sharpened.  Praying that you will choose your words – so you always build on the rock.  The other option is sand.  The one who builds on that will be swept away in the storm.  Praying that you will Prepare for the storm, Praise God in the storm, Run to Him in the storm, that your faith would grow strong before the storm, so you will be unshakeable, not tossed, but firm and established.  That you would praise God for storms, and trust Him fully in the middle. 
 
Love you all,
dad