Surviving Storms

This post was inspired by an amazing sermon from a visiting pastor at church this morning. I love it when God speaks to my heart through the voices of others.

How To Survive a Storm

We all have to endure storms. They show up in the form of financial, occupational, and/or personal crises. Acts 27: 19-41 demonstrates how to survive the bad weather in our lives. In these verses, Paul and others are sailing to Rome when they get caught in a terrible storm.

1. Lose Your Cargo (Keep Your Courage)

Acts 27: 19 — “The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard.”

Nothing clarifies priorities like a storm. Similar to the storm Paul experienced, our personal trials help us realize what’s important and what’s weighing us down. Thankfully, we have the option to drop those heavy burdens to the bottom of the ocean.

What is God asking you to throw overboard so you can survive the storm?

2. Be Practical (and Prayerful)

Acts 27: 34 — “Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.”

A storm clarifies what works and what doesn’t. It’s great to be prayerful, but you also have to be practical to survive. As my pastor often says, just do the next right thing. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed by trying to plan too far in advance.

What simple step is God asking you to do to move out of the storm?

3. Don’t Cling (Ride the Wreckage)

Acts 27: 41 — But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.

In storms, chaos and creation are related. We just have to stop clinging to the past and ride the wreckage out to reach the future God has in store for us. God gives us opportunities, in the form of storms, to have eyes of faith and grab His grace for survival.

What opportunity does God want you to see right now?

It doesn’t matter how big your sail is… It matters how much wind is behind your sail. If you rely on God’s grace, you will always survive the storm.