Our minds don’t always work very well when they are under duress. Our emotions can overwhelm us and our instincts become unreliable. Just when we are most needy, we become most vulnerable—vulnerable to making poor decisions and acting in ways that are unwise or even unbiblical.
I was recently pondering Luke’s account of a ship in a great storm—an account that sees his ship (and Paul’s) driven across the Mediterranean until it is wrecked off the coast of Malta (see Acts 27). I pondered Paul’s actions in the storm and came to four principles that can guide all of us when we are in times of great fear and great distress.
Remember that you belong to God. I am struck that as Paul recounts the vision God gave him, he speaks of “the God to whom I belong.” There are many ways to describe your relationship with God, but maybe none is more precious than this: You belong to God. You are his. You are his by creation because he made you. You are his by salvation because he saved you. You are his by sonship because he adopted you. You are his for eternity because he will never uncreate or unsave or unadopt you. You belong to God! This is a beautiful, powerful, comforting truth to cling to in the storm.
Second, refuse to give in to anxiety. We shouldn’t overlook the simplicity but also seeming-absurdity of the angelic command: “Do not be afraid.” That seems ridiculous! Paul is in a terrible, brutal storm, and the ship is in imminent danger. But Paul is told he must not be afraid. Why not? Because God has already told him what the outcome will be. And the same is true for you when you encounter difficult circumstances. You might be concerned and you might be perplexed, but you must not be anxious, for God has promised that no matter what happens, he is ultimately in control and he will ultimately deliver you to himself. If you can trust God with the destination, then surely you can trust him with the journey. If you can trust God with your soul, then surely you can trust him with your circumstances.
Third, be thankful. I’m sure Paul gives thanks to God after the storm. I’m sure that once he reaches dry land, he falls to his knees and praises God for his deliverance. But we see that he also gives thanks to God in the middle of it all. Now, he doesn’t necessarily give thanks for the storm, but he does give thanks in the storm. Before he eats, he prays and gives thanks to God. One of the temptations in difficulty is to fail to be thankful, to allow fear or dismay to supplant gratitude. The fact is that even in your hardest times, you still have so much to be grateful for—if nothing else, that God has taken pity on you, saved you from your sins, and promised you a home in heaven. Christian, make it your commitment to pray in the hardest times and give thanks to God for his many mercies.
And then live like God’s promises are true, just like Paul does. He turns to his shipmates and says, “I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength.” Everyone else is living like they are about to die, but Paul tells them to keep living like they will survive. You don’t need strength to die—you need strength to live! You don’t need strength to drown—you need strength to swim! Paul is absolutely confident that the people will escape, so he tells them to live like it. “Live like God will honor his promises and deliver you. Eat! Keep your strength up. You will need it because you will escape.” And even in your hardest times, God calls you to live in such a way that you prove you believe that God’s promises are true and that in the end, all will be well. Your faith will be tested in the storm, and there will be no better time for you to display to him, to yourself, and to the world around that you trust God. Look to the future and live for the future, even when dismayed and overwhelmed in the present.
After my Nick died, there were no words that challenged me more than these ones from the old preacher J.R. Miller. He wrote that often the primary reason Christian men and women are called to suffer is for the sake of witness—so they can give witness that they sincerely love the Lord and have genuinely been transformed by him. He said, “The world sneers at religious profession. It refuses to believe that it is genuine. It defiantly asserts that what is called Christian principle is only selfishness, and that it would not stand severe testing. Then, godly men [and women] are called to endure loss, suffering or sorrow, not because there is any particular evil in themselves which needs to be eradicated—but because the Master needs their witness to answer the sneers of the world.”
This is an opportunity that exists in any suffering: To answer the sneers of the world. So you can show the world around that no matter what God takes from you, you will continue to love him, you will continue to praise him, you will continue to cling to his promises. To show that as long as you have Jesus, you have all you need.
We have to accept that God has purposes in the storms of life. And we have to believe that the God who leads us into the storms will lead us through them and past them and ultimately lead us to himself.
