ANCHORED BY COURAGE

Acts 27:22 “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed”

-A man drives to work at 6:30 a.m. as he has for 8 years. He punches in his time-card and is soon confronted by his supervisor. John is berated and humiliated as he has been repeatedly over the years over minor things. This time he quits---STORMS

-A strong thunderstorm sweeps through the area and destroys a farmer’s crops and barns. He is already deep in debt---STORMS

-A widow faces an empty house and bed for the first time in 40 years---STORMS

-Parents sit on the couch. It is 3:00 a.m. Their sixteen year old son has not come home. They fear he has been drinking. As they wait, Dad has another beer----STORMS

We all face storms. Some are physical-- like, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes. Some are personal--- like, death, job problems, soured friendships. Storms are a part of life. The right question is not whether they will come, or when, but how we will respond to them. Paul faced a life-threatening storm. He was on his way to Rome to see Caesar, to stand trial. For 14 days the ship was in a raging sea. But Paul never panicked. As the crew panicked, Paul stood and allowed courage to anchor him.

When you think of courage, what comes to your mind? Is it not having any fear, not being afraid of anything? There was a five year old boy who was helping his mother cook supper one night. She asked him to go into the pantry and get a can of tomato soup for her, but he saw how dark it was and didn’t want to go in there alone. When he shared this with his mom, she said, “Don’t worry, Jesus will go with you.” This helped a little bit until he opened the door to the pantry and again saw how dark it was. He started to pull the door shut when he got an idea. He stuck his head back in the pantry and said, “Jesus, if you’re in there can you hand me that can of tomato soup?”

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to go on in spite of it. You can be afraid and yet courageous at the same time. In fact, Eddie Rickenbacker said that “there can be no courage unless you’re scared.”

Think of our veterans of war. We probably picture them as fearless men. And while maybe some of them were, I have a feeling that the vast majority of them were scared out of their wits. But in spite of their fear, they were willing to face death for love of their country. They weren’t fearless, but they were courageous.

In order for us to make it through life’s storms triumphantly we must have courage to continue on through those storms. If we lack courage, the slightest bump in the road may turn us from our course. If we lack courage, we will struggle to reach our goals. Our courage is not in what we can survive or what we are willing to face. Our courage is drawn from our knowledge of God’s love and promises towards us.

If you are facing a great storm today, take courage in him. Let that courage anchor you and your faith. The storm will pass and you will stand tall.