Fighting for Hope in the Storm

While journeying on the sea from Caesarea to Rome the apostle Paul is lost at sea with 275 others on an Alexandrian vessel. In the midst of the storm tossed seas with darkness all around they find themselves in a hopeless situation. In Acts 27:20 Luke records there hopelessness in this way, “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest lay on us; all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.” This physical storm that the apostle and others faced is symbolic of many of the difficulties and storms of life that buffet us in a fallen world. It may be the storm of a sick child without any word of a diagnosis. It may be a call from the police that your wife or husband has been killed in a car accident. It may be the words from the doctor that your scans have come back and you have terminal cancer. It may be the news from your spouse that he or she is leaving you for someone else. It may be that you have lost your job, your retirement, investments or a business you have poured life into. Whatever the storm may be it buffets your soul and in the darkness of that storm you lose all hope.

These storms strike against the roots of our lives so that when we give way to hopelessness in the midst of the storms, our lives will bear fruit or spring forth life from the roots of hopelessness. John Piper says, “But when we lose hope, the world becomes fearful, threatening place, full of chaotic futility. Hopelessness saps us of energy and desire. It robs us of interest and appetite. We just want to curl up and protect our soul. We call it depression. The Bible calls it hopelessness.”

Why does this happen? The writer of Proverbs helps us to understand our hearts with these words, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Pr.13:12). When our hopes are deferred by the storms of life our hearts may enter into a sickened condition. And as we know from the Scripture we live our lives out of our hearts. Our hearts are the root system for the fruit of our lives born through speaking, seeing, hearing, thinking and acting. As the writer of Proverbs says in 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life”. Therefore if the storms that buffet us put off a fulfilled hope then the fruit will be: Fear, Anxiety, Despair, Depression, Fatalism (nothing really matters), Bitterness, Anger, Self Preservation, Dependence on Sex, Drugs, or Spending. Those 276 persons on board that ship all had hopes of different kinds, they had desires that they saw would be lost forever, unfulfilled. There hearts were sick and it is evident in the words, “all hope of being saved was at last abandoned.” Have you ever been there or are you there right now? What is the fruit that your life is bearing because of your sickened heart?

The apostle Paul stood before those on the ship in the midst of the storm to strengthen them for hope in the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation. I want to give you five theological principles derived from Paul’s words or situation that will enable you to face hopelessness in the storms of life, so that your hearts will be strengthened to bear fruit for God’s glory and yours and others good.

First, be assured that God is with you. I believe Paul was struggling with the same heart sickened condition that all the other passengers were facing, but in the midst of this God sent an angel to speak the truth to his heart (Acts 27:23). This assured Paul that God was with him, and with this certainty he sought to strengthen those on board that God was with them. Our sickened hearts need to be reminded that God is with us even when our hopes are deferred by the storms of life. He says to his own, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Josh.1:5) and that, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt.28:20). He will be with all who draw near to him by faith in Jesus Christ.

Second, be assured that you belong to God. Paul told them to “take heart…for this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong…” (Acts 27:23). He not only knew that God was with him but that he belonged to God. He knew he was his own and that he cared for him particularly as his own. This strengthened Paul’s heart. Do you know that you belong to God? If you are alive by the Spirit in Christ “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” (1Cor.6:19-20). The Scripture uses many different metaphors to make it known to those who are in Christ that they belong to God. We are told that as the church we are his body and that Christ is our head (Eph.5:23). We are told that we are living stones being built into a spiritual household (1Pe.2:5). We are told that if we are believing in Christ we have the right to be called the children of God (John 1:12). We are told that we are his own treasured possession (1Pe.2:9). We are told that we as the church are the bride of Christ (Eph.5:25-27). These and other metaphors are used by God to encourage his children so that they may be assured they belong to him even in the midst of great storms so that our hearts will be strengthened when our hopes are deferred.

The third way we fight for hope in the midst of the storms of life is to be assured that we are in the service of God. Paul says, “the God to whom I belong and whom I worship.” (v.23). Paul was sure he was in the service of God. He was sure that he had been called by God and that he would speak of Christ before the emperor in Rome (v.24). Paul tells all who have been saved by grace in Christ that, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph.2:10). Just as he brought Israel out of Egypt to worship or serve him, so he has brought all who belong to him out of sin and death to worship and serve him for his own glory. The storms come by his providence to strengthen us for his worship. But our hopes and desires must be in him seeking first his kingdom and righteousness then our hearts will not grow sick, but we shall be as a tree of life because our hopes are fulfilled in him who is never moved.

Fourth, Paul was assured that God was working in every circumstance. He had heard from God and he said, “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.” (v.25). Paul knew that even the storm and the subsequent shipwreck (v.26) were the circumstances God was using for his glory. He says in Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” Hope is secured not in circumstances, situations or relationships but in God who is in the heavens doing everything that he pleases (Ps.115:3). As William Cowper wrote,

“God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill he treasures up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break with blessings on your head.”

Can you be assured that the circumstances in the midst of the storms are for God’s glory and good toward you? Take heart in the midst of the storms, “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom.8:28).

Fifth, be assured for hope through God’s revelation. The apostle Paul is strengthened in hope when God reveals himself and his word to him through the angel (v.23-24). He was then able upon the certainty of the authority of God’s word to encourage others to take heart (v.22, 25). In the midst of the storms that buffet us we do not rely upon revelations from angels but we have a more sure word from God, the prophetic word (2Pe.1:19). The Word of God that is breathed out by God (2Tim.3:16) is the light shining in the dark places and it is not from man but from God as he carried men along by the Spirit (2Pe.1:19-21) to give us the Word of the prophets and apostles with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone (Eph.2:20). In the Word of God we have the surety of who God is and what his will is, we have the certainty of who he has been in the past and what he has done in the past fulfilling all his promises. We have the certainty of his promises for our future and this is the bread that feeds the soul in the midst of the storms of life. Those who were at sea with Paul had not eaten for fourteen days in the midst of the storm and when Paul knew they had been without food (v.21) he stood to give them the food of God’s promise to strengthen their sickened hearts (v.22-25). We must eat the bread of heaven in the times of calm so that we are prepared for strength in the storm. And in the storm we must fight to eat from God’s hand the bread of who he is, who he promises to be for us and what he has promised to do. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt.4:4; Deut.8:3).

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” The heart that is assured that God is with him, that he belongs to God, that he has the grace to worship and serve him, that every circumstance and situation are in the realm of his sovereign providence and that holds fast to his revelation in his word, will be a heart that hopes in the midst of storms and from it will be a life that glorifies God and does others good. The storms are a reality, they are inevitable and are coming. We do not know their times or seasons, but let the church be ready by desiring him who is able to keep us from falling and who will not let anything separate us from the love he has for us in Christ Jesus.