How to Handle the Storms of Life

Paul Knew God Was with Him

The first thing is that Paul knew that God was with him. On this occasion an angel of the Lord appeared to him to reassure him of God’s presence. That was a powerful evidence. Yet Paul was aware of this truth at other times too, just as we should be aware of it. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was about to leave this world for the final time, said to his disciples, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20, italics mine).

The message is the same for us as it was for Paul: “Surely I am with you always.” Christians have found Jesus with them as they have gone through life’s storms. They testify to it again and again.

Christians testify that God has been with them in a way that is supernatural. God has quieted their hearts. He has made himself known in small ways that turned out to be so significant the individuals could testify afterward that God did what he did just to reassure them. He taught them that he had a purpose in it all. Do you know that God is with you? Are you aware of his presence? When the storms come, that will make a great difference.

Paul Knew He Belonged to God

The second principle is that Paul knew that he belonged to God. When Paul mentioned God he identified him as “the God whose I am” (italics mine). That is, I am not my own; I am bought with a price; I belong to him.

In one of his published sermons Donald Grey Barnhouse dealt with this passage by exploring the ways in which we belong to God, using some of the great images of Scripture. He noted that we belong to God as the bride belongs to the bridegroom, since we, the church, are the bride of Christ. This is a precious, beautiful picture. Nothing is going to tear the bride from the arms of Jesus Christ.

We also belong to God as a child belongs to his or her father, since we are God’s children. What would you think of a father who sees something happening to his child and simply walks off in another direction? We recognize a basic human duty to care for our children. If a father sees his child being hurt or taken advantage of or persecuted in some way, any decent father comes to its rescue. If we think that way, even though we respond imperfectly, we can be certain that God also does.

Third, we belong to God as sheep belong to the shepherd. Recall Jesus’ story of the shepherd who loses one of his sheep. Although he still has the other ninety-nine, he goes to find the lost sheep and searches until he brings that sheep back.

I think of a man who whenever temptation came to him or people were giving him trouble used to look up to heaven and say, “God, do you know that they are attacking your property?”

Paul Was in the Lord’s Service

The third truth is that Paul knew he was in God’s service, about God’s business. Verse 23 speaks of “an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve…” (italics mine). God had told him what he was to do: He was to bear witness in Rome. But he had not gotten to Rome yet, and it does not take an Einstein to figure out the implication of those two facts. If God had told him that he was going to serve him in Rome, bearing a witness there, and if he had not yet gotten to Rome, then the storm that was battering the ship on which he was sailing was not going to take his life. God was going to preserve him.

You and I do not have special revelations of that nature, to be sure. God has not revealed to us any specific length of service or specific future place of service. But we can know that as long as God has work for us to do, God will preserve us to do it. God will not be frustrated; and if God is not frustrated, we do not need to be frustrated either. If God has work for us to do, then God will keep us alive to do it. And if you have finished the work that God has given you to do, why should you want to linger around here any longer? We may want to go to heaven as soon as possible, but until then we need to get on with our Father’s business.

Paul Trusted God in All Circumstances

The final principle comes just a bit later in Paul’s speech, where he says, “For I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (v. 25). Paul knew God. So it was not only a case of God’s being with him or his belonging to God or God’s having work for him to do. He also knew God as the God of all circumstances and was able to trust him for life’s details.

When I lose my job? Yes, when I lose my job.

When I have cancer? Yes, that too.

When someone I love has died? Yes, even then.

These things are not insurmountable to God. They are merely circumstances that he brings into our lives for his glory and our good. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Encouragement to Others

Because of the faith Paul had and because of what he knew of God, Paul was able to encourage others. Jonah was running away from God. So when the storm came to batter the ship that was trying to carry him to Tarshish, Jonah was not on the deck helping others. He was in the hold of the ship asleep, like so many Christians. Others were in danger, but he was of no use to them.

By contrast, Paul was obeying God. So when the storm broke, he emerged as the real leader in the situation. Paul said, “For the last fourteen days you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head” (vv. 33–34). Then he “took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all… broke it and began to eat” (v. 35). That was practical Christianity.