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Authors: Casey Treat

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When the Storms Come
Some Christians believe if they have enough faith, they will never have a problem, but like I said at the beginning of this chapter, this isn’t the case. As long as we live on this planet, there will be storms of life every one of us will face, and we will have to deal with those sufferings and those issues. But just because a storm strikes, that does not mean that we have to be struck down. There are ways to walk through storms with the mighty strength of God. We can do this in three ways, and I’m going to use some biblical stories of actual storms to illustrate each of the three.
Some storms we speak to.
When evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41)
When Jesus was awakened from His nap, He simply spoke to the storm, and it calmed down. With some of the storms we face in life, we can just speak to them, and they will lie down. If an economic storm comes, and we speak to it in the name of Jesus, we will sail on by. If physical storms of sickness and disease rise up, and we speak to them, “In the name of Jesus, get off my kids, get off my family, get out of my house,” it will quickly dissipate. Jesus said to speak to the mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, to not doubt it in our hearts, and what we say will come to pass. Some storms will be chased away merely by the sound of our voices, as the life residing in that sound chases off the death and destruction.
Some storms we walk through.
In the last chapter, we read about the account in Matthew 14 where Jesus was walking on the water while the disciples were trying to keep their boat afloat amid a storm. In the middle of the sea, the men in the boat were rowing fervently but going nowhere. This is when they noticed Jesus walking toward them through the storm. In this storm, Jesus didn’t speak to it, didn’t stop it, didn’t change His mind about where He was going, and didn’t tell it to do anything different. He just kept walking. Why did Jesus speak to one storm, making it cease, and to another, just walk through it?
I’d love to make up a really provocative answer because it would make this chapter much more profound, but it would probably be wrong anyway. The truth is I don’t know why He spoke to one storm and walked through another. I guess sometimes we must walk through the storms of life by faith. When I was diagnosed with hepatitis C, I wish I could’ve simply spoken to the disease and not have had to walk through the eleven months of chemotherapy. It would have been awesome to immediately have that thing be healed, but it didn’t happen that way. I had to walk through it—step by grueling step.
These are the times we cannot lean on our own understanding, and we must put all our trust in God. During these long storm walks, we cannot allow our minds to be consumed with the “whys” and the “what ifs.” Rather, we must focus our minds on God’s promises, match the intensity of the problem, and believe greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. And when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4)—don’t stop and set up camp! Let’s keep our faith alive and keep on walking.
Some storms, we grab a board and hang on!
The last storm I want to talk about is in the book of Acts, chapter 27. Because this account is so lengthy, I’m going to summarize, but when you have a moment, read the story in its entirety, because it has the makings of an action movie. In this storm, the apostle Paul is on a ship (as a prisoner) on his way to Rome. At one point during the journey, Paul sensed they would face grave danger if they continued their voyage, and he warned the captain they would encounter terrible storms. But being a prisoner, Paul’s opinion didn’t matter much, so the ship left the port. Sure enough, they were met with a tempestuous head wind, and the ship was being rocked to the point where they were forced to throw their cargo overboard in order to lighten the ship and prevent it from sinking.
In Acts 27:18-44, an angel appeared to Paul and assured him that he need not worry, he would make it to Rome alive, and the Lord would save all the lives of the people on the ship. Now it seems to me, if God can send an angel to manifest and talk to Paul, and promise to save the men’s lives, all because of Paul’s prayers, then why couldn’t He just have stopped the storm? Again, I don’t know. Maybe it was God’s way of getting Paul to Malta where he started a revival that spread throughout the entire island. But maybe the Lord just wanted to have a nail-biter story at the end of the book of Acts. Who knows?
What I do know is that God sent an angel to prophesy to Paul and to instruct him about how to handle the storm. Throughout the terrible journey, Paul gives the crew advice on how to survive, and luckily, they all listen. Finally, the ship runs aground, and all the men have to swim to shore to save their lives, many needing to grab on to various boards from the broken vessel and float to safety. So some storms you speak to and they lie down, some storms you have to walk through, and some storms you just grab hold of a board and hang on for dear life until you make it to shore! Either way, whether speaking, walking, or holding on, when you put your faith in God, you will overcome in the end.
No matter what kind of storm you might be experiencing as you read this book, trust in God and know He is working it out on your behalf. He is leading and guiding you and is going to use this storm to perform something amazing that you may not be able to see right now. Whatever the circumstance, or the degree of its intensity, you can put your faith and your entire life in the hands of your Heavenly Father. He loves you and wants to bring success in your life even more than you do! If you decide to place your trust in the things of this world, you will surely be disappointed, but if you will choose to lean not on your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge Him, then He will direct every step of your path, and very soon you will experience wonderful success.
Faith is the first of “the 3.” It is the premiere ingredient in our Christian lives and
nothing
of eternal value can be accomplished without it. It grows in our hearts as we listen and study the Word, it is activated in our lives through our confession, and faith is seen in our lives by supernatural fruit it produces.
You
are a person of faith. Never underestimate the power of faith residing inside of you. Remember, it’s not a feeling; it’s an attitude and unwavering belief in God.
My desire is not just to offer you teaching about what faith is, but also to give you a practical resource to mature and strengthen your personal faith. The Faith Manual, which follows, is a valuable resource designed to help you do just that. It is full of confessions for you to speak over your life and your circumstances. Starting with a few longer, general faith confessions for your life, as you continue through the manual, you’ll find confessions listed in topical form. Faith people don’t speak
about
their problems; faith people speak
to
their problems! As you utilize this resource I know you will see incredible transformation begin to take place in those areas you never thought possible.
FAITH MANUAL
Faith Confessions
God’s Word
The Bible is the Word of God and I believe it. I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have, and I can do what it says I can do. I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind. Today I will take another step toward God’s perfect will. I’m becoming like Jesus; I’m energized by the Holy Spirit; I have the desire, discipline, and determination to be all God has called me to be.
Ministry
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. If I lack wisdom, I ask of God who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it is given to me. I walk in love. The love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. Whatever I do shall prosper, for I prosper and live in health, even as my soul prospers. I tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall by any means hurt me, for the joy of the Lord is my strength.
(Nehemiah 8:10; Luke 4:18; Luke 10:19; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; James 1:5; 3 John 2)
Personal Commitment and Discipline
I am a disciplined man/woman of God. I give myself continually to prayer and to the ministry of God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. I am not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of my mind, to prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. I am risen with Christ. I set my mind on things above, not on the things on this earth. I seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, these are the only things on which I fix my mind.
I love [spouse’s name] as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it. We walk in harmony and in one accord. We have been made one by the Spirit of God. I love [children’s names]. I train them in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it. I raise them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. No evil befall me, neither shall any plague come near my dwelling. By the stripes of Jesus I am healed. I am blessed with the blessings of Abraham. I am very rich in silver and in gold. The blessing of the Lord makes me rich and He adds no sorrow to it. I prosper and live in health even as my soul prospers. As He who has called me is holy, so I am holy in all manner of lifestyle because it is written, “Be holy for I am holy.”
I put aside my old ways of thinking and acting, which are corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. I am renewed in the spirit of my mind and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. I am strong and very courageous. The Word of God shall not depart out of my mouth, but I meditate therein day and night to observe to do according to all that is written therein. Then I make my way prosperous and then I have good success.
(Genesis 49:26 [AMP]; Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm 91:10; Proverbs 10:22; Proverbs 22:6; Acts 6:4; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 4:22-24; Ephesians 5:25; Ephesians 6:4; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 Peter 2:24)

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