Storms of Purpose: Seeing the Hand of God in the Tempest of Life

Oh, the storm, y’all…the STORM is no fun.

The storms of life, of course, is to what I refer.

I’m not talking about a shower, where the wind whips around a little, and everything gets a good soaking.  I live in Florida, the land that knows a thing or two about hurricanes.  Those are more the storms I’m talking about. And although we like to talk tough about storms here, and act like they’re no big deal, a hurricane is no joke.  When you are unfortunate enough to suffer a direct hit, it WILL alter the course of your life.  Ask those who suffered Hurricane Camille in the 1969.  Andrew in 1992.  Opal in 1995.  Katrina in 2005.  Matthew.  Harvey. Irma.  Maria.

Storms of a certain magnitude become seminal, defining moments in your life.  No one says, “Everything changed after that slightly inconvenient rain shower that caused us to suspend our afternoon plans.”  But the BIG storms are monuments to life-altering, course-correcting events, where you begin to think of segments of your life as pre- and post-storm.

Ask Paul.  Paul was so in-tune with God, he even knew that storms were coming.  He’d been warned by those sensitive to the Holy Ghost that he would soon be in chains, but he also knew he had to go.  God told him He had plans for him in Rome.  He couldn’t bring himself to run from the purpose that he’d long since committed his entire life to.  Instead, he used this knowledge to prepare himself and others for what lie ahead.  He said proper farewells, and encouraged those who were fellow laborers to stay the course, with or without his reoccurring presence. 

Then, with confidence, Paul went straight to the center of Jerusalem, knowing that at the appointed time, he’d be arrested and detained.  When it happened, because the high priest and the Jewish rulers couldn’t abide Paul’s teaching, and imprisoned him, the Lord Himself came to encourage Paul. 

Acts 23:11 NLT

¹¹ That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

Paul knew the storm was part of the plan.

Even while being transferred to Caesarea for safekeeping, to preserve his life from an assassination plot, Paul knew that God’s word would come to pass.  He saw God’s purpose in the opportunities he was given to share his powerful testimony, and to preach the word to those in positions of authority, through Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa.  He was in the house of Festus for about two years—just tell me that God wasn’t reaching for him!

Finally, God sent Paul on towards Rome.  He gave him favor with Julius, the centurion charged with getting him there.  And yet, when God spoke to Paul about the perils that lie ahead on their ocean voyage, and tried to delay their trip out of concern for the safety of all, the centurion went with the expert opinion of the ship’s captain. He predicted a safe journey, and so, they set sail.

At first, everything looked picture-perfect…until that nor’easter, which the King James calls “Euroclydon”, blew up into a massive tempest.  They tried everything they knew to do, to no avail—they were at the mercy of that storm for over two weeks.  Two weeks of getting tossed around like a ragdoll, drowning in a waterpark wave pool.  Two weeks of salt water waves smashing you in the face, of being nauseous like you’ve never been sick ever before.  Acts 27:20 records the understandable state of mind of the crew: “ The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.”

Two weeks of being battered.  Two weeks of hopelessness.  Two solid weeks of feeling like, at any given moment, drowning in the sea, never to be heard of again was your only option.

I bet all hope was gone.

Have you ever been there?  Circumstances and difficulties just keep coming.  Waves of depression, anxiety, guilt, and worry bashing you over and over again, until you feel like you’re choking and drowning?  Like you’ll never see the sun again, because the sun and the stars have been blotted out by the storm that rages?

Yes?  Me too.  In fact, in some ways, I’m there right now.  So, welcome to the storm.

In the midst of all of that, Paul was quiet for two weeks.  Can you imagine?  Such a chance for a well-placed, totally gratifying, “I told you so.”  But, not a word.  I bet the centurion could hardly look at Paul, but Paul just endured the storm, like everyone else.

Paul finally addresses the crew of the ship, and listen to his message:

Acts 27:21-26 NKJV

²¹ But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. ²² And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. ²⁶ However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

I think if I’d been on that ship, I’d have alternated between thoughts of, “Surely after 2 weeks there’s no way we’re getting out of this,” and “Well, we’re not dead yet, I guess…and there must be a reason.”  Paul was able to convince the men, to save them from foolish decisions, and to get them to eat something (for the first time in two weeks) so they’d have strength to endure what lay ahead.  I mean, they all knew he’d been proved right—so what did they have to lose by heeding him now?

You choose:  the storm WITH God, or the storm WITHOUT Him.

 I think I’ll stay in the boat, thank you very much. 

Another thing that strikes me is verse 26, where it says, “we must run aground on a certain island.”  Even in the storm, even in the violence of the weather, God had their landing spot picked out ahead of time.  Though the other 275 souls on board the ship surely felt randomly tossed to-and-fro over the course of 14 days…Paul assured them that they were right on schedule with God’s Master Plan.

Did they get wet?  Yes.  Did the back of the ship get smashed in a zillion pieces? Yep.  Did they have to cling for dear life to pieces of wreckage, and even have to do some swimming?  Absolutely.  But Paul told them that they would survive, because God was giving Paul the souls of every man aboard as a sign that He was with him.  He wanted Paul to be more convinced than ever that the storm was incapable of derailing God’s destiny for Paul, as long as he stayed safely IN THE SHIP.

Not a single life was lost. Not ONE.

If that was the end of the story, it would be pretty epic all on its own.  But God is so intentional, so omni-directional with every detail, it was only the beginning of the saga.

The “barbarous people” were kind and welcoming, and did their best to offer relief from the castaway’s ordeal.  They went out of their way to show hospitality.  When Paul was doing his part to help, by gathering kindling for the fire, a poisonous viper leapt out of his hiding place and bit Paul on the hand.

(How many of you would have been like, “Really?!?!?  C’mon God!!  Enough already!”  Just me?  Mmmm-hmm.  Right.)

When Paul acted business-as-usual, and simply shook off the serpent into the fire, and went on his way, the locals were astonished.  They knew they were in the presence of something other-worldly.  Paul’s God-confidence was so powerful, he refused to be rattled by whatever the enemy wanted to try to throw at him.  Paul was so convinced of the infallibility of the plan of God, he didn’t give a moment’s thought to what the enemy intended to distract, delay, and discredit him.  Paul KNEW God was bigger, and that He had a plan.

As a consequence, what happened?  The island of Malta (then known as Melita) experienced the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They were introduced to a miraculous, Apostolic experience, to SALVATION.  Not just in spite of the storm—but because of the storm.

Purpose IN the storm?  How is that possible?

Not only that, but my Apostolic Study Bible commentary even records that instead of blowing them off-course and making their journey even longer, they storm actually caused them to travel 470 west, putting them only about 320 miles from Rome!  “God not only spared Paul, but through the storm had moved him closer to his destination.”

What?  I thought storms were supposed to set you back—to make you late.  Aren’t storms supposed to keep you from being everything you were supposed to be, from everything God told you would happen?

Only if you get out of the boat.  Only if you panic, while the waves are crossing the bow of your ship, and there seems to be no definite destination.  Only if swallowing a little sea-water convinces you that you’re going down one way or the other, and that you have no hope.

 If you will just stay in the boat—just trust in the True Captain, the One who holds the wind and the storms in the palm of His hand—when the storm clears, you’ll find yourself closer than ever to your destination, and smack-dab in the middle of revival and purpose.

Quit treating the storm like a distraction, and embrace it as part of the plan that is moving you closer to His Plan.  Peace in the midst of the storm is REAL.  And like Paul, you’ll know, God’s right there, in the middle of it all.