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If there were anybody in Scripture who went through many storms in life, it was the Apostle Paul. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, contained within the Bible, he mentioned the trials he experienced in life to the congregation.

He talks about going through very difficult severe storms in his life, Paul’s trials didn’t end there. They continued, even after he penned this letter.  As Paul was making his final journey to Rome, Paul was about to enter another storm.

Every storm or trial that we go through has a beginning, middle, and end.

Every storm has a beginning.

The Apostle Paul found himself a prisoner on a ship headed toward Rome when the seas became rough. It was not the correct time of year to be out at sea. Paul perceived that the weather conditions were unfavorable to travel and approached the ship’s captain and crew. Paul told the crew, “’Men,’ he said, ‘I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.’  But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul” Acts 27:10-11 NLT.

Like the Apostle Paul, at times we won’t have a choice but to enter a storm. 

As the ship continued to sail towards a nearby harbor to overwinter, the winds became so strong that the boat was in danger of sinking. The crew bound a rope around the ship’s hull to help keep it intact and tossed their cargo overboard, and “the terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.” Acts 27:20 NLT.   

Every storm has a middle.

The storm raged on for Paul, and the crew had lost all hope. These experienced seamen knew the storm was so bad they would all perish at sea.

The book of Acts records that “no one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.” Acts 27:21-25 NLT.

Every storm comes to an end.  

The one thing familiar with all storms is that every storm has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Winter storms will soon end, and spring rain will begin. The same can be said for any trial, difficulty, and circumstance that comes upon us. For the Apostle Paul, his storm was about ready to end. The angel of the Lord that had visited Paul on the ship told Paul that the crew and everyone on it would survive the shipwreck that was about to take place. Paul believed in the word of the Lord. He convinced the sailors to stay on board and told them that the Lord ensured everyone’s safe arrival on shore. They began to lose hope once the sailor lost hope due to their circumstances. But now, everyone on board found hope in the Lord because of Paul’s actions during the weather event. As we have seen in Paul’s life, he believed the word of the Lord during the storms that he found himself in.

Tune in to the podcast to hear more about walking through the storms of life.

Catch up on other podcast episodes in this series of Strengthening Your Walk with Jesus, with Abiding in the Faith.

You can support Abiding in the Faith ministries by purchasing my new book. “Strengthen Your Walk: Lessons from Paul’s walk with the Lord”

Available now! Order yours today. “Strengthen Your Walk” can be purchased at Amazon.com or barnsandnoble.com. E-book is also available.

About the Author

Jason began his ministry with a podcast called Abiding in the Faith, which grew into Abiding in the Faith Ministries (www.abidinginthefaith.org). A ministry to make God known by focusing on spiritual growth and evangelism through discipleship by helping to strengthen a person’s walk with Christ.