God of the Storm: There Stood by Me This Night

By Dr. Burliss E. Parker

So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive (Acts 27:15). The meaning here is that the storm was so powerful they surrendered control of the ship to the storm. This book has been in the making for over twenty years. I have observed and experienced the storms of life, the unplanned and unexpected changes that blow into our lives and change the direction we were going. Everyone experiences storms in their lives. Storms can be caused by your own conduct or by the actions of others. Storms can be a satanic attack or just the events of life. It is difficult to see Gods plans in the storm. However, if He has a job for us to accomplish for Him, He will bring the circumstances into our lives to take us where He wants us. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve (Acts 27:23). What a wonderful promise! We do not go through the storms of life alone! He is always with us. Remember the storms of life are never bigger than the God we serve!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512709704

Dr. Burliss E. Parker

Burliss is a graduate of Ashland Theological Seminary, where he earned his master’s degrees and his doctor of ministry degree. He has been in the ministry for over thirty-five years. He is the author of From Ruins to Rebuilding.

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Copyright © 2015 Dr. Burliss E. Parker.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-0971-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0970-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015913622

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/16/2015

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One The Journey Begins

Man’s Plan—God’s Plan

Contrary Winds of Change

Prayer and Fasting

Insights from God

Looking for Direction

Chapter Two The Storms of Life Come Up Suddenly

Two Harbors

Euroclydon

The Storms of Life

Life Has Storms

Chapter Three The Winds of the Storm Could Be God’s Direction

If the Storm Is Too Big, Go Along for the Ride

The Ropes of God’s Strength

The Ship Graveyard

Storms Get Our Attentions

Chapter Four When All Hope Is Gone

There Stood by Me This Night

Chapter Five I Believe God

Chapter Six Taking Soundings

They Took Soundings

The Seven Knots in the Rope of Our Response

Chapter Seven They Dropped Four Anchors

Dropping the Anchors

The Four Anchors

Chapter Eight The Desire to Escape

The Five Reasons God Slows Us Down

Attitude Adjustment and Express Delivery

Let’s Make a Run for It

Misplaced Faith

Chapter Nine They Lightened the Ship

Encouragement 101

Eight Lessons Accomplished in the Storm

Chapter Ten The Nine Things Given Up in a Storm

Another Plan Fails

The Nine Things Given Up in the Storm

Chapter Eleven Coming into the Shore on the Pieces

The Six Lessons Learned in the Storm

Chapter Twelve Destination Malta

From Murderer to a God

The Miracle at Malta

The Storm of Life Checklist

Appendix These are the personal life lessons learned in the storm from the stories that were used in this book. May they encourage you

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wife, Dawn, and my daughter, Brittany, for their support.

I’d like to thank Buffy Smith for her typing skills and suggestions, as well as Shelby Gahm, for painting the front cover of the book.

Thank you to those who gave me permission to use their stories.

INTRODUCTION

The storms of life come up suddenly and without warning. Life storms are the unexpected events that come our way and catch us off guard. You do not plan cancer. You do not plan an accident. You do not plan a job loss. You do not plan a death. Yet these events come our way. With all these surprises and fury, not every storm we experience is a satanic attack. Some are of our own doing, and others are sent by God. I know you are thinking, How could that be? We will discover on our journey through the twenty-seventh chapter of the book of Acts that God allows storms to come our way. The difference between God’s storms and Satan’s storms are as follows:

Satan’s storms

• are meant to hurt you and leave you with no hope of recovery;

• destroy you, leaving you with no hope of putting your life back together, at least back together with any purpose or meaning;

• tempt you to become addicted to something that will become a bondage; and

• tempt you, telling you to give in to something that will eventually destroy you.

On the other hand,

God’s storms

• get your attention; and

• bring you back under God’s protective covering if you have strayed from Him.

God’s storms cause us to refocus our priorities. Often along life’s journey, we neglect or even forget what is important. The company you are building, the degree you are pursuing, or the career path that you have chosen should not be your absolute top priority. Are these things important? Yes. But they are not more important than a relationship with God! Nor are they more important than your family.

Storms, no matter who sent them or where they came from, will draw us closer to God. I call these the storms of life because they are so big and complicated we cannot go through them without God’s help and strength.

Here’s one more thought to ponder: maybe the storm you are experiencing is blowing you in the direction God wants you to go. Maybe you are experiencing a storm now. This book will help you sort through what you are going through and give you a deeper understanding of what is happening.

We will journey with the apostle Paul as he places his faith and life into the hands of God—because we serve the God of the storm.

CHAPTER ONE

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

T he trumpets sound, the court falls silent, and all eyes watch as King Agrippa and Bernice enter the auditorium. The commanders and city leaders have gathered to hear the defense of the man known as Paul. But how did Paul come to this point? Let’s take a brief look at the events that have taken place.

Paul had been preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. He returned to Jerusalem to inform the brethren about his work among the Gentile Christians and his concern with trying to force them to follow the law of Moses. The decision was made that they would not have to abide by the strict Jewish laws. In Acts 21:25, the Bible says, But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.

During this time, Jews from around the known world had descended on Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In Acts 21:27b, the Bible explains, The Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him. Those from Asia had spotted Paul in the crowd and began shouting that he was the one teaching the Gentiles against the law. And worst yet, Paul tried to take Greeks into the Temple in verse 28. Because of the uproar, the commander of the Roman troop was summoned. Verse 32 reads, When they saw the commander and soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Paul was then placed under arrest.

In Acts 22:1–22, Paul shared how he became a believer in Jesus Christ. This made the crowd of Jews even more angry with him, to the point that they sought a way to murder him. Acts 22:24 reads, The commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. The commander’s duty was to keep the peace and make sure the Roman laws were enforced. The reason for the riot was the Jews were upset with Paul concerning the violation of the law of Moses, which was of no concern to the Roman commander. The decision was made to scourge Paul.

Scourging was used because of its effectiveness to get to the truth. The scourge was a leather whip with pieces of sharp bones and metal interwoven into the leather. The physical damage done by this weapon was extensive, and some men did not survive the beatings.

Before the commander began the scourging, Paul told him it was unlawful to tie up a Roman citizen and beat him without a crime having been committed. If the commander had scourged Paul and then found that he had beaten a Roman citizen, it could have meant the death penalty for the commander. In Acts 23:12, it says, And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. The news of this vow came to the attention of Paul’s nephew, who in turn told Paul. The nephew was then taken to the commander, who, once enlightened, decided to send Paul to Felix, the governor.

The protection Paul was given is found in Acts 23:23: And he called for two centurions saying, ‘Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night (about nine o’clock at night).

Paul arrived safely and was handed over to Felix. Felix took no action concerning Paul. As a matter of fact, Acts 24:27 tells us that Paul was prisoner in Caesarea for two years and that Porcius Festus succeeded Felix. Paul was tried before Felix and then tried before Festus. In Acts 25:7, the Bible tells us, The Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

Like Paul, we can relate to a time in our lives when someone or a group turned against us. And like Paul, they were not serious charges, just complaints. But because they were the ones who had the power or the influence, they got their way.

Festus was the new governor and did not want to start off on the wrong foot with his Jewish constituency. The idea was to send Paul back to Jerusalem to stand trial by the Jews. Paul knew he would not get a fair trial there, so as a Roman citizen, he had the right to appeal his case to Caesar in Rome. Festus was now left with no choice but to follow through with Paul’s request.

He was being held by Festus, and before he was sent to stand before Caesar, Agrippa made a request of Festus that he also may hear what Paul has to say, which brings us to our beginning. Agrippa was the third Roman ruler who examined Paul’s case.

Acts chapter 26 is the account of the examination of