In the passage of our sermon for today, we shall be looking at Paul's life experience in the midst of storm of life. In life, believers are meant to go through a rough situation in order for his or her faith to be solidly grounded in Christ. Jesus Christ said in John 16:33 to us believer that "in the world we shall have tribulation, but we should be of good cheer that He Christ had overcome the world for us". If we study the life of Apostle Paul carefully, we can see that he went through rigorous persecution because of his faith in Christ Jesus and God saw him through it all.
Paul himself narrated his experiences to the Corinthian Church in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 that as a minister of Christ, he suffered beating by his own Jewish people, was stoned that he might die, suffered shipwreck thrice, was in the depth of the sea traveling for the sake of the gospel, and encountered perils (imminent danger to life) at seas, by armed robbers, he also has been in hunger and thirst, in fasting, often, in cold and nakedness. He made mention that what was driven him was his care for all the churches of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:28.
The journey in the Christendom is not a bed of roses, the moment Saul (the persecutor now decided to accept Christ and his name change to Paul during his encounter with Christ on his journey to Damascus to persecute the Christians in Acts 9:1-2, he encountered Jesus on his way in Acts 9:3-5. This is to give you an assurance that if you are serving the Lord in truth and in Spirit, the Almighty God will do whatever He needed to do to ensure that all your enemies are disgraced or their hands will not catch up with you. God will rather turn the situation to your good because the bible makes us to understand in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for the good of those who love God and were called according to his purpose.
The moment that Paul accepted the call by Christ and was chosen as the vessel to carry the gospel to the gentile world in Acts 9:15-16, the devil started persecuting him so as not to achieve the purpose of Christ in taking the gospel to the gentiles. The same situation happens in the life of believers the moment we get born again and identified with Christ that all hell left loose to derail our destiny in Christ Jesus. I pray for you that your destiny that has been derailed shall be made straight henceforth and you will get to your destiny in life in Jesus Name. Amen!
People of God, I do not want you to exercise fear in accepting Christ fully into your life and identifying yourself to the calling into the Kingdom of God by doing more for God. Be rest assured that no matter what your situations may be as a result of your faith in Christ Jesus, He will see you through because God assured us in Deuteronomy 31:6 that we should not be afraid or terrified because of the situations or challenges we find ourselves and that God will never leave us nor forsake us. Romans 8:37 says that in all these situations/challenges, we are more than conquerors through Christ's love for us.
Are you afraid that if you make Jesus Christ known in your life to your unbelievers’ friends or relatives or co-workers, they might forsake you and not be friends with you again? Christ said in Luke 9:26 that if you are ashamed of being identified with Him by letting people know what you stand for (i.e Believer in Christ) He Christ will be ashamed of that person too.
We all know what it means to be proud of someone, when you are proud of somebody, you will see that the person you are proud of will not want to let you down. The same way is for us when we are proud of Jesus, Our Saviour that He will not also want to let us down.
As believers, how can we exercise our faith in the midst of storm of life? We shall be looking at two situations because of our time.
1. You must be fully persuaded of whom you believe, which is Christ Jesus. In 2 Timothy 1:12. when Paul was writing to Timothy, Paul was telling him that despite his sufferings, he is not ashamed of Christ because he knew who he believes and persuader to keep what was committed into his care. Learn to commit everything to Christ and let him have his way. Paul in Acts 27:21-26 now talking to the other passengers in the ship, exalt them not to be afraid in Acts 27:23-25.
2. Do not look at the storm or wind (problems/ situations/challenges). In Matthew 14:22-32, We can see the story of Jesus Christ telling his disciples to go ahead of him to the other side. The bible said that when the disciples was already in the ship to cross to the other side as their Master (Jesus) commanded them, that the wind became contrary and tosses with waves. This created a panic situation such as fear to the disciples, but we are told that at the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea to rescue them. This is an assurance to us believer that when Christ ask us to go or to do something for him, He Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. Here, we see Christ walking on the sea to meet his disciples, this created another fear for the disciples (making two fears for the disciples to deal with), but Christ has to first removed the fear by telling them in Matthew 14:27 to be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. This is how believers in Christ behave when faced with situations/challenges and while still trying to solve it that another occurs and make us to fear the more. We need not be afraid!
The catch to this story is in Matthew 14:28-32 when Peter wanted to exercise his faith by walking on the sea as Jesus Christ, the bible says that when he (Peter) started he was doing fine and walking on the water, but in Matthew 14:30 we were told that Peter saw the wind boisterous, and was afraid and fear started making him to sink immediately. But he cried to Jesus to save him and Jesus stretches forth his hand in Matthew 14:31 to grab him so that he might not sink.
If you look at the story, you will see that the wind did not stop when he requested Jesus to bid him come on the water. And in Matthew 14:32, we are told that the wind ceased when they have both entered the ship.
This is to tell us that we can ride on top of the storm of life. That is, we can overcome our situations/challenges without it going away if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Saviour.
Are you going through a situations or challenges in your life and you are thinking of an escape route? Please note that only Jesus Christ is the person that can make you an overcomer.
Are you here today and saying, I would like to have a relationship with Christ, I want to walk upon my situations/challenges in life such as Peter walks upon the water? Here is a chance for you to come boldly to the throne of grace and receive mercy and forgiveness. I would like to pray with anyone going through this period now. Heavenly Father, I pray for anyone going through any situations/challenges in their life’s right now, that the God that rescue Peter from sinking from the storm will rescue you in Jesus Name. Amen! Thank you, Jesus!
