Harvest: Greg Laurie

This week's devotions are taken from a recent series of posts on Pastor Greg's blog. To see his latest blog entry, click here.


So what do you do when unexpected trouble comes your way, when you have a "shipwreck" in life?

Paul was able to survive literal shipwrecks and more. How? He knew God was with him. He belonged to God. And he was doing the will of God.

Now, one final principle: he believed God. Paul turned to the others onboard the sinking ship and said, "So take courage! For I believe God!" (Acts 27:25)

I believe God!

I love those words . . . "I believe God!" Those are not the words of a person in denial or out of touch with reality.

Paul said this while they were still in the worst of the storm with no hope. The sun was not shining, the clouds were still dark, and the seas were still rough.

It wasn't a case of "mind over matter," but "faith over circumstances!"

Paul was fully convinced of the faithfulness of God and was sustained by that conviction. He had seen God faithfully take care of him up to this point and he was confident of his future.

Jesus was "Captain of his boat"

Paul knew that God was master of all his circumstances and Captain of his boat.

Luke 5 tells the story of Jesus making one of his first contacts with Simon Peter. The Lord asked to borrow the fisherman's boat for a sermon that He gave just a few feet from the pressing multitude.

After Jesus told him to "launch out into the deep for a catch," Peter replied, "Master, we have toiled all night; nevertheless at your word we will do it . . . "

Peter used an interesting word for "Master." It means "captain of this boat."

And what was the result? Luke 5:6 tells us, "And this time their nets were so full they began to tear!" Peter fell down before Jesus, and the Lord said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Will you let Him be the Captain and Master of your boat?

What about when my investments fail?

Is Jesus still "Captain of my boat" when I lose my job? Yes, when you lose your job.

Is He Lord when my house burns down or my investments fail? Yes, He is Lord then too.

What about when I get cancer? Yes, He is Lord when you have cancer.

What if a loved one has died, is He still Lord? Yes, even if a loved one has died. For it is then that we need our Captain who will "get us to the other side"

Jesus is there

This world says, "You will never survive this crisis, the end has come! Even God has abandoned and forgotten about you!"

I reject that. You and I who have put our faith in Christ belong to Him.

Jesus says, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Jesus says, "Let's cross over to the other side!"

This world says, "Death is the end. This life is all there is." Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25 NKJV).

You may be going through a storm right now, or you too may have just been "shipwrecked." You are not alone. Let God help you now. I urge you to "believe God," like Paul.

TODAY'S RADIO PROGRAM: "Parenting God's Way — I"

BIBLE READING: Exodus 18

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

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