Winds of adversity

Acts 27:3-26 "The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul,allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italyand put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.[a] So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. 13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor[b] and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. ​21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

I know your thinking this is a large portion of scripture. Well your right. But allow it to set the stage for the storms we experience in life. I came to the Pastors Quarters today and saw that the ferns that I had watered very well on Sunday and withstood the winds through Wednesday were now blown over. Upon inspection I realized that they were totally dried out. The water that had saturated them had made them heavy enough to stay upright but after much wind and heat they had dried out and toppled over.  It dawned on me that when we like the ferns don't get enough water of the word we too can get toppled when the winds of adversity blow.

Being the lover of plants that I am I immediately ran to get some water and saturated my beautiful ferns.  In no time at all even with a strong wind there they were upright and standing. We are not much different than those ferns. When we stay in the word of God and saturate our minds with the Word of God we are able to stand in times that would perhaps take others out. This gives us a testimony to share with others. Our lives become a witness unto God.

Let's be honest. The Word of God tells us that perilous times will come. Times that are hard to endure will come our way but we are able though the Word of God and the Power of God to do all we can to stand and then stand some more. Check out Ephesians chapter 6 for more on standing in times of adversity.

So what do we do?  Get in the Word of God and get in over your head. I have a great CD called just that, "Getting in Over Your Head" at our online bookstore.  Here is the link https://squareup.com/store/rci-bookstore/item/getting-in-over-your-head  I hope you get it and then drop me a line and let me know your thoughts.