STANDING IN THE STORM!

Matthew 7:27 “When a storm rolled in and the waves came up…” MSG


Thunder Storms…awesome, troublesome, and with the accompanying rain sometimes just bothersome. Ask anyone who has been struck by lightning and it’s also shockingly painful, as well. I can remember one evening in my younger years when I sat in a four wheel drive vehicle on Assateague Island and watched the most intense display of lightning for hours.

Lightening and storms can be beautiful, but they can also be devastating. It's always better to watch the storm as it happens somewhere else!

Most of us remember Hurricane Katrina which pounded the Gulf Coast and took 1836 lives. We have watched pictures of the 2004 Tsunami launched in the Indian Ocean killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries. That storm generated waves up to one hundred feet high and devastated many lives! Storms are not always beautiful or fun!

We’ve had a lot of lightening and rain the last couple of days and I was driving home late last evening from Church watching the awesome display of God’s majesty in the heavens. Job 37:3 “He directs…His lightning unto the ends of the earth.”Jesus had a lot to say concerning storms too! Jesus said that in this life you can not avoid the storms.

Matthew 7:27 “When a storm rolled in and the waves came up…” There is no way to avoid storms or trials and tribulations in this life. Jesus also stated in John 16:33 that “…In the world you will have tribulation…” That Greek word for tribulation means “pressure, squeezing, squashing, stress, etc.” Experienced any of that recently?

It seems to me that in the Gospels Jesus knew exactly how to still the storms of life. Mark 4:39 “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” He is still in the storm business today. He will either calm the storm in you, calm the storm itself, or calm you in the storm!

Here is His advice direct from the Manufacturer’s handbook (Bible.) Translated from the message it goes like this concerning the Word of God. Matthew 7:24-27 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”


So here’s the wrap-up! Jesus simply says that those who discover His Principles written in the Word of God and APPLY (obey) them will stand in the middle of the storms of life! Perhaps He will speak a simple directive (word) into your spirit in a time of prayer. If you apply (obey) that Word, again you will stand in the midst of the storms of this life or “you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock!”


Soldiers are not thrust right into the fray without extensive training and rehearsal in advance. Isn't it time that you practiced for the next storm! get into God's Word and discover His Principles of Life. Immediately apply them in your life through His Ability. Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

Somebody you know needs to hear this message today. Who do you know that is currently suffering a collapse in the midst of the storm? Pass the site on today! Get involved in someone else's life!