Take Heart

On the journey of Paul’s described in Acts Chapter 27, a great tempestuous head wind called a Euroclydon or a Gregale arose, a strong cold hurricane force wind around Malta. An angel stood beside Paul and spoke to him in the night. Paul knew where God was taking him, and trusted God to take him safely through the storm, believing that wherever he landed was where he was needed at that time. So Malta received the Gospel.

If I’d been on Paul’s ship I would have probably died of fright, rather than ‘taken heart’, but it can be the Lord who commands and raises the stormy winds, which lift up the waves of the sea. In Nahum 1:3 we read that ‘the Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet’. However in Psalm 107:25-30 we read that God also brings us out of our distresses and calms the storm.

Sometimes God uses the storms and blows His winds to move us. The place we find ourselves in, after the storm, may be the place He wants us to be, spiritually or otherwise. We may have been through a tempest, but God can use that experience and walking through it can become our testimony.

This was a physical storm for Paul, but I know there are mental, emotional, spiritual and everyday unbearable storms that we go through. His way is in the storm but His ways are higher than our ways, so let’s remain ‘in Him’ and He in us, so that we will ride the storm together.

"As the thunder rolls,
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain – “I’m with you”.
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives, and takes away.
And I’ll praise You in the storm, and I will lift my hands,
For You are who You are, No matter where I am.
And every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hand,
You never left my side.
And though my heart is torn,
I will praise You in this storm." Mark Hall & Bernie Herms


Prayer: Lord, please help us choose to praise You as much as we are able, although it may be the hardest thing to do, in Jesus’ name. Amen.