CHANGE OF FOCUS DURING THE STORM – Acts 27:25
Acts 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
Paul had been entrusted to a centurion named Julius who was charged with taking him to Italy. Along the way, Paul had warned Julius that they should not proceed any further on their trip because of the weather. However, Julius listened to the master of the ship rather then Paul and now the ship was caught in a great storm.
During the storm, an angel of God appeared unto Paul and told Paul that God’s will had not changed and that Paul would still preach in Rome. The angel also informed Paul that not one life would be lost on the ship although the ship itself would be wrecked.
It did not matter to Paul that he had been in prison for the last two years, Paul still believed God. Paul had seen God’s faithfulness over his life and God had now spoken to him twice that he was to preach in Rome. Paul could see that the circumstances were not favorable for him to ever reach Rome, but Paul understood that God was greater then any circumstance. Even during the midst of the storm while in chains, God saw fit to remind Paul that HE was still with him.
God does not lie. What God promises, that HE must fulfill. It does not matter how thick the chains nor how strong the storm appears to be, God is still greater. God has the power to stop a storm immediately just as he has the power to cause chains to fall off. Paul had seen God bring an earthquake in order to release him from his chains once before, thus Paul understood God’s power to fulfill HIS promises in HIS timing.
God has demonstrated HIS’ faithfulness to you in the past so as to create a testimony in your life to give you the strength to see HIM do even greater things in the future. As you see God do the impossible through you, your faith in HIM should grow so that you can say to others with assurance that God will fulfill that which HE has promised. In order to increase your faith, the trials of your life must become bigger. You must be willing to see God do greater things through you then HE has done through you in the past.
Just because you have seen God work mightily through you in the past, it does not mean that you will have the right mindset to see God work even greater miracles in the future. The disciples of Jesus had seen Jesus perform many miracles yet they still had little faith when it came to them perishing in the storm. God desires that you do not allow the storms to distract you from believing that HE is able to do that which HE had promised you to do through you. God wants you to change your mindset so as to be thinking of the things of God and not allow your focus to be distracted by the storms. If you keep your focus upon God rather then the storms, you can have the faith to see the next miracle.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for when you do not have the physical evidence that it can occur. When you add virtue to your faith, it allows you to have your focus upon the things of God rather then the storms that surround you. Paul was in an impossible situation, but because HE believed God and trusted God, Paul kept his focus upon the promises of God rather then the storm that was about to destroy him. Follow Paul’s example and focus your attention upon God’s promises not the storm.