Don't Bail - Ride The Storm Out!
I have always been really interested in the story of the RMS Titanic. I am just fascinated by documentaries and books and all of the stories that came out of the tragedy of that great ship's sinking. Most people know that one of the biggest blunders made and which cost hundreds of people their lives was the fact that there were not enough life boats onboard the ship to rescue passengers in the event of an emergency. Added to that was the clear lack of knowledge by both crew and guests of what to do in the event that something were to go wrong. Many of the lifeboats were only half filled with people when they were lowered into the water! As a result of this terrible tragedy much stricter guidelines were set for passenger ships, and no one can embark on a cruise ship today without first going through an emergency drill.
But what would happen if you found yourself on a giant ship in the middle of the ocean and a huge storm blew in? Have you ever seen video footage of cruise ships being tossed around in a storm? It's terrifying! Just how much good would one of those lifeboats do you when the sea is raging and the waves are strong enough to toss a gargantuan ship around like a toy in the bathtub? Chances are taking the "emergency exit" provided would only cause you a more complex and different set of problems. What would be the ideal outcome in this situation? Ideally, the storm would stop! Instead of running around trying to find a way off of the boat, the seas would calm and allow safe passage for your boat to sail on.
How many times in our lives do we try to put bandaids on our problems or take what appears to be a way out just to stop the pain instead of truly getting to the root cause of our issues? How many times does the "easy way out" end up being much more difficult than we ever imagined?
When we are faced with trials of many kinds, there is only one answer that makes any sense. Give your problem to God and WAIT. Is it a relationship problem? A money problem? Career problem? Personal problem?
PRAY AND WAIT. I cannot emphasize this enough! Do not be the one taking matters into their own hands and bailing ship prematurely when you know eventually those seas are going to calm down. How do you know that those seas are going to calm down? Because if he's called you to it, he will bring you through it! God has promised that it is so. Because he doesn't begin a work that he doesn't finish. Because he is the only one who doesn't lie and who knows your future. Don't drown yourself because of your lack of patience.
One of my favorite stories in the bible right now illustrates this beautifully and it fires me up to WAIT!
Today we're talking about our good pal Daniel. (You know, that guy in the lion's den?) Only we're not talking about lions today. In Daniel 10, we learn that our friend was given a word from God that caused him great distress. What he saw would be a time of great testing and persecution for the people of Israel. Poor Daniel was distraught. "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." Daniel 10:3
At the end of this three weeks, Daniel was walking along the Tigris river when he looked up and the vision of a man appeared before him. This scared him, too! But listen to what this man had to say.
"Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days to come." Daniel 10:12-14
There is so much in this story to unpack (I encourage you to read the whole chapter!) but today I want to focus on this last passage. We are given a great glimpse into spiritual warfare and how God works in these words! First, we need to recognize that when Daniel asked for help, God responded right away. He sent help for Daniel immediately. Just because Daniel did not receive what God had already sent, that did not change the fact that help was on the way.
How many times in our lives do we feel like God is not answering our prayers? What if he HAS but the answer just hasn't reached us yet?
Why did it take so long for Daniel to receive the help and direction he needed? Because this messenger, presumably an angel, was detained by the prince of Persia, presumably a demon. This demon withstood him for twenty-one days. And how long did Daniel pray and humble himself before God? Ding ding - twenty-one days. What if Daniel had stopped praying on day seven? Fifteen? Twenty? What if Daniel had jumped ship one day too soon? Do not underestimate the power and significance of your constant, fervent prayer! Because Daniel didn't give up praying, another angel - Michael - was sent to help the first, allowing him to come and deliver a message to Daniel.
I love the words that this messenger left Daniel with:
"And he said, "Oh man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage." And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince." Daniel 10:19-21
He left Daniel with peace, encouragement, and he strengthened Daniel's spirit. Did you catch what happened at the end there? Spiritual warfare NEVER ends! This angel snuck away for a few minutes to share a message, only to have to turn around again to fight some more against the princes of Persia and Greece.
Could God have stopped the spiritual warfare between those angels and demons with one breath and allowed the messenger to come to Daniel even sooner? YES. Why didn't he? Because God used that time to grow Daniel. He grew Daniel into a man of consistent prayer. He taught Daniel to never give up. Do you think Daniel ever forgot about this encounter? Not a chance. Time always serves God's divine purpose!
How many times in our lives have we given up prematurely? We may never know this side of Heaven how many times angelic help or insight has been delayed or never realized because of our lack of persistent prayer. Think about that for a minute. This thought terrifies me more than the thought of being tossed around on the ocean! How many blessings have been missed? How much growth did I miss out on? How much time has been wasted because I threw a pity party instead of praying about something? How many times did I settle for a lifeboat and set a course to aimlessly drift around in the ocean hoping to be rescued instead of staying RIGHT where I was and doing what I should have done all along: To pray to God to calm the storm of my circumstances.
Why do we settle for less than the best? Why do we bail out? When we hang in there and ride the storm out, even if it's terrifying...even if it's taking longer than we would like...even if things LOOK hopeless...then we will reap the rewards in the end! Even Jesus gives us an example to pray with fervency, always.
"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learns obedience from what he suffered, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 5:7-10
"This is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long, but they will produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the trouble we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Do not jump ship too soon. Never give up! Stay the course, pray fervently, just hold on tight and ride that storm out, and then...hey...while everyone else is rowing around in the water because they weren't still and they freaked out, you'll be first at the buffet line! :) God blesses those who wait on him. Do not focus on your present circumstances, but instead keep your eyes on the promise ahead. Remember what happens when we're walking on the raging sea and we take our eyes off of Jesus - we begin to sink! When the storms come, don't waste time looking for the nearest exit. Pray to the one who can calm the storm.
Peace!
But what would happen if you found yourself on a giant ship in the middle of the ocean and a huge storm blew in? Have you ever seen video footage of cruise ships being tossed around in a storm? It's terrifying! Just how much good would one of those lifeboats do you when the sea is raging and the waves are strong enough to toss a gargantuan ship around like a toy in the bathtub? Chances are taking the "emergency exit" provided would only cause you a more complex and different set of problems. What would be the ideal outcome in this situation? Ideally, the storm would stop! Instead of running around trying to find a way off of the boat, the seas would calm and allow safe passage for your boat to sail on.
How many times in our lives do we try to put bandaids on our problems or take what appears to be a way out just to stop the pain instead of truly getting to the root cause of our issues? How many times does the "easy way out" end up being much more difficult than we ever imagined?
When we are faced with trials of many kinds, there is only one answer that makes any sense. Give your problem to God and WAIT. Is it a relationship problem? A money problem? Career problem? Personal problem?
PRAY AND WAIT. I cannot emphasize this enough! Do not be the one taking matters into their own hands and bailing ship prematurely when you know eventually those seas are going to calm down. How do you know that those seas are going to calm down? Because if he's called you to it, he will bring you through it! God has promised that it is so. Because he doesn't begin a work that he doesn't finish. Because he is the only one who doesn't lie and who knows your future. Don't drown yourself because of your lack of patience.
One of my favorite stories in the bible right now illustrates this beautifully and it fires me up to WAIT!
Today we're talking about our good pal Daniel. (You know, that guy in the lion's den?) Only we're not talking about lions today. In Daniel 10, we learn that our friend was given a word from God that caused him great distress. What he saw would be a time of great testing and persecution for the people of Israel. Poor Daniel was distraught. "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." Daniel 10:3
At the end of this three weeks, Daniel was walking along the Tigris river when he looked up and the vision of a man appeared before him. This scared him, too! But listen to what this man had to say.
"Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days to come." Daniel 10:12-14
There is so much in this story to unpack (I encourage you to read the whole chapter!) but today I want to focus on this last passage. We are given a great glimpse into spiritual warfare and how God works in these words! First, we need to recognize that when Daniel asked for help, God responded right away. He sent help for Daniel immediately. Just because Daniel did not receive what God had already sent, that did not change the fact that help was on the way.
How many times in our lives do we feel like God is not answering our prayers? What if he HAS but the answer just hasn't reached us yet?
Why did it take so long for Daniel to receive the help and direction he needed? Because this messenger, presumably an angel, was detained by the prince of Persia, presumably a demon. This demon withstood him for twenty-one days. And how long did Daniel pray and humble himself before God? Ding ding - twenty-one days. What if Daniel had stopped praying on day seven? Fifteen? Twenty? What if Daniel had jumped ship one day too soon? Do not underestimate the power and significance of your constant, fervent prayer! Because Daniel didn't give up praying, another angel - Michael - was sent to help the first, allowing him to come and deliver a message to Daniel.
I love the words that this messenger left Daniel with:
"And he said, "Oh man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage." And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince." Daniel 10:19-21
He left Daniel with peace, encouragement, and he strengthened Daniel's spirit. Did you catch what happened at the end there? Spiritual warfare NEVER ends! This angel snuck away for a few minutes to share a message, only to have to turn around again to fight some more against the princes of Persia and Greece.
Could God have stopped the spiritual warfare between those angels and demons with one breath and allowed the messenger to come to Daniel even sooner? YES. Why didn't he? Because God used that time to grow Daniel. He grew Daniel into a man of consistent prayer. He taught Daniel to never give up. Do you think Daniel ever forgot about this encounter? Not a chance. Time always serves God's divine purpose!
How many times in our lives have we given up prematurely? We may never know this side of Heaven how many times angelic help or insight has been delayed or never realized because of our lack of persistent prayer. Think about that for a minute. This thought terrifies me more than the thought of being tossed around on the ocean! How many blessings have been missed? How much growth did I miss out on? How much time has been wasted because I threw a pity party instead of praying about something? How many times did I settle for a lifeboat and set a course to aimlessly drift around in the ocean hoping to be rescued instead of staying RIGHT where I was and doing what I should have done all along: To pray to God to calm the storm of my circumstances.
Why do we settle for less than the best? Why do we bail out? When we hang in there and ride the storm out, even if it's terrifying...even if it's taking longer than we would like...even if things LOOK hopeless...then we will reap the rewards in the end! Even Jesus gives us an example to pray with fervency, always.
"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learns obedience from what he suffered, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 5:7-10
"This is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long, but they will produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the trouble we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Do not jump ship too soon. Never give up! Stay the course, pray fervently, just hold on tight and ride that storm out, and then...hey...while everyone else is rowing around in the water because they weren't still and they freaked out, you'll be first at the buffet line! :) God blesses those who wait on him. Do not focus on your present circumstances, but instead keep your eyes on the promise ahead. Remember what happens when we're walking on the raging sea and we take our eyes off of Jesus - we begin to sink! When the storms come, don't waste time looking for the nearest exit. Pray to the one who can calm the storm.
Peace!
So, I must confess the title has resulted in REO Speedwagon playing in my head all day, haha! ("Ridin' The Storm Out") Thank you for the reminder, I probably should re-read this one daily; I am probably the least patient person I know! I don't plan to dwell on the "woulda, coulda, shouldas," but will focus on being more patient in the future and being grateful for where I am in life - easy for me to say, of course, as I have a lot to be thankful for! New job, new car, my health, my family, and great friends. ❤️ But I still have room for improvement in the patience department - who knows what bigger, better plans God has in store for me if I just follow His lead!!
ReplyDeleteThank you again, I appreciate your posts! ☺️
Thanks, Brianne! That song was totally in my head, too. Haha!
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