Daily Devotional for Thursday, May 18

The Fearful Storm

“And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away,”
Acts 27:18-20.

“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life” (Proverbs 4:13).
In April 2011, fierce tornadoes ripped through Alabama. The Hardy family received late notification of the storms. The best they could do for shelter was to tie a rope around their children and huddle around them among some nearby trees. The Hardy family survived with just a few scratches. They must have mustered all their physical and mental strength to hold on tight to the trees to save themselves and their children.
Paul had advanced warning of the fierce storm he was facing and of his pending imprisonment. Yet Paul faithfully obeyed God’s command to preach the gospel in whatever circumstances he found himself. During the dark nights of loneliness in prison and the fierce storm on the seas, Paul must have clung so tightly to the commands and promises of God.
Like Paul, we will face many spiritual storms in our lives. Therefore, we must cling tightly to the promises of God while we faithfully obey His commands. It would be so easy for us to give up when storms arise. But we must remain obedient to God no matter what comes.

THOUGHT: Compromise and quitting will never bring us victory. Obedience and total trust in God is the only path to surviving the storms of life.

Steven Ridings