Ep. 067 Sovereignty in the Storm

Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast.

We are a Bible -believing church located in beautiful

British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part

of the Christian Fellowship Ministries with 3

,000 churches around the world. We are a church

focused on world evangelism, discipleship, and

church planting. Here we will share recent sermons

from PHSA Church and other sermons from throughout

our fellowship. I'm Pastor David Bigford, and

I will be your host for this podcast. I thank

you for listening today, and we hope these messages

are a blessing to you and bring you closer to

God. Hello, and welcome back to the podcast.

My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor here

in Salmon Arm. The message I put together is

Sovereignty in the Storm, and the text that we're

going to be using is Acts 27, 21 through 26.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be grumpy

when you're tired, cold, hot, or hangry? Isn't

it amazing how even the most devout believer

or the most respectable people can still let

exhaustion get the best of them? Now, I know

that this has never happened to you, and I bet

that everyone here listening can remain calm

as a cucumber even when you are tired or hungry.

When the weather's bad, I bet you're just a pillar

of joy. But, you know, I'm not one of those pillars.

I can be quite grumpy if I'm cold, wet, or hungry.

If I'm trying to sleep and someone or something

wakes me up prematurely, I've been known to snap

a few times. Sometimes I wake up and having not

slept well, it can be very hard to get moving.

And in those times, how do you react? In those

times of physical stress, it's easy to act out.

It's also easy to direct our frustration onto

others and even onto God. Is this right, though?

How should we react to our frailties? Sometimes

I'll try to force myself into action, like in

the Marine Corps, we would call this sucking

it up or embracing the suck. Now, sucking it

up might work sometimes, but often it just makes

things worse. Many of the injuries or ailments

I have from my time in service come from me being

stubborn and sucking it up. So his sovereignty

in the storm, this is this is a illustration

I've used before, but it's about Sergeant Daniel

B. Olson and how he was part of the U .S. Army

Intelligence Unit, the 24th Mechanized Infantry

Division during the first Gulf War, way back

in the early 90s. Their task was to seize Iraq

airbase at Jalaba and trap the Iraqi army, preventing

their escape from Kuwait. So in this story, we

see, you know, we see his his. through this time

in battle. And we kind of get a piece of his

story. In his story, he says, mount up, we're

moving out. And it tells the tale of when he

was having to rush towards the battlefront after

being sleepless night after night and how he

had to pack up and move out into the desert.

How he had to anticipate. the orders since the

start of the war was 40 days earlier, but he

was waiting for the rush to move forward. So

in this story, it's pretty interesting because

people didn't know what to expect. This was the

first real war that America would have entered

into in quite a while since Vietnam. And so there

was a lot of unknowns in this battle. So while

the Army and Marine divisions east of his unit

slogged through artillery fire and landmines

his division raced across the empty desert expanse

and after 30 hours of non -stop driving his company

finally paused for a six -hour rest he was tired

he was exhausted having had gone two days straight

on a on pure adrenaline and as he was sitting

there chilling wind blew the sand in his face

and into a sleeping bag as he plopped down on

the on the rocky landscape It began to rain.

The skies were just full of despair is the way

you'd see it. There was no time to erect a tent

because the wind was blowing too hard. There

was no refuge as he sat there in the sand. So

let's look at our text in Acts 27, 21 through

26. Since they had been without food for a long

time, Paul stood among them and said, Men, you

should have listened to me. and not have set

sail for Crete and incurred this injury and loss.

Yet I know I urged you to take heart, for there

will be no loss of life among you, but only of

the ship. For this very night there stood before

me an angel of God to whom I belong and whom

I worship. And he said, Do not be afraid, Paul.

You must stand before Caesar. And behold, God

has granted you all those who sail with you.

So take heart. So in Acts 27, it's fascinating

on many levels. It gives us this vivid first

-person account of a hair -raising nautical adventure

complete with dangers, intrigue, shipwrecks,

survival. It showcases what courageous Christian

leadership looks like in a chaotic situation.

It advances the narrative. of the book of Acts

as Paul journeys towards Rome to bear witness

to Christ. By all accounts, Acts 27 gives us

an engaging story, but it does more. It gives

us a practical theology. Specifically, it shows

us how the doctrine of God's sovereignty plays

out in the storms of life. But we can put a finer

point on things. Acts 27 provides a case study

on how the apostle Paul, the New Testament author,

most associated with teaching of God's sovereignty,

put his theology and practice in real time. In

other words, in Acts 27, we see the practical

implications of Paul's theological understanding

relating to God's sovereign control over the

world. How did Paul's journey start? Well, in

Acts 27, 1 through 11, we read about him sailing

for Rome. And it says, and when it was decided

that we should sail for Italy, they delivered

Paul and some prisoners to the centurion of the

Augustan cohort named Julius. and embarking on

the ship of a drab medium which was about to

sail to the port along the coast of asia we put

to sea accompanied by aristarchus a macedonian

from thessalonica the next day we put into sidon

and julius treated paul kindly and gave him leave

to go to his friends and be cared for and putting

out to sea from there we sailed under the lee

of cyprus because the winds were against us and

when we had sailed across the open sea along

the coast of cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to

Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a ship

of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on

board. We sailed slowly for a number of days

and arrived with difficulty off Sinaitis, and

as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we

sailed under the Lee of Crete of Salmon. Coasting

along it with the difficulty, we came to a place

called Fairhavens, near which was the city of

Lycia. Much time had passed and the voyage was

now dangerous because even the fast was already

over. Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I perceive

that the voyage will be with injury and much

loss, not only of cargo and the ship, but also

our lives. But the centurion paid more attention

to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than

to what Paul said. Paul knows how their voyage

will turn out. Shipwreck, but survival for all

on board. The journey's end has been predestined.

God has a predetermined ending for this trip.

Yes, there will be a loss of material, ship,

cargo, but no, there will not be any loss of

life. That brings me to my first point, which

is the storm. Life is full of storms, but God

is in those storms. There are different types

of storms, a disturbance of a normal condition

of the atmosphere manifesting itself by winds

or unusual force or direction. You've got rain,

snow, hail, thunder, lightning, all these kinds

of things. You can also call a storm a violent

military assault on a fortified place or a strong

position. You can consider it a heavy or sudden

volley or discharge. You could see a storm of

criticism, a storm of bullets, a violent disturbance

of affairs, a civil, political, social, or domestic

commotion. These are all things that you could

classify as a storm. And we have seen some of

these in our own lives. God uses the storms in

Job 38. When he says in Job 38, 22 through 27,

have you entered the storehouses of the snow

or have you seen the storehouses of hail, which

I have reserved for the times of trouble for

the day of battle and war? What is the way to

the place where the light is distributed or where

the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who

has cleft the channel for the torrents of rain

and a way for the thunderbolt to bring rain on

land where no man is, in the desert in which

there is no man, to satisfy the waste in the

desolate land and to make the ground sprout with

grass? We can see from Sergeant Olson's frustration

and how it was beginning to rise at the beginning

of his tale. He's tired, he's exhausted, and

now he's wet. Why did there have to be a storm

now? We are in the desert. How can there even

be a storm right now? So what does Sergeant Olson

do? He prays. He says, God, please stop this

rain. I cried out an acre in frustration. He

says, I begged God to see the depth of my faith

to show him how much I believed he could stop

the rain. I thanked him for the miracle that

would soon come. And then it happened. The rain

came down on sheets. Why are you doing this,

God? I pleaded. Your own son said that a mustard

seed of faith. could move a mountain, I only

asked that you would move a dark rain cloud.

I was disillusioned that God, who controls the

wind and the rain, would not say, peace, be still.

After all, I was his child, wet and cold and

on the desert floor. In Acts, we get a similar

picture. In Acts 27, 12, it says, And because

the harbor was not suitable to spend winter in,

the majority decided to put out to sea from there,

on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix,

a harbor of Crete. facing both southwest and

northwest and spend the winter there if we could

pick it up in thirteen it says now when the south

wind blew gently supposing that they had obtained

their purpose they weighed anchor and sailed

along crete close to the shore but soon a tempestuous

wind called the nor 'easter struck down from

the land and when the ship was caught and could

not face the wind we gave way to it and were

driven along running under the lee of a small

island called cauda we managed with difficulty

to secure the ship's boat after hoisting it up

they used supports to undergird the ship then

fearing that they would run aground on the syrtis

they lowered the gear and thus were driven along

since we were violently storm -tossed they began

the next day to jettison the cargo and on the

third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard

with their own hands when neither sun nor stars

appeared for many days and no small tempest lay

on us all hope of being saved was at last abandoned.

As the storm rages, Paul announces good news

to the ship's crew and passengers in our text

verses 21 through 26. God, through an angelic

messenger, had shown him that what would happen

to all of them. Paul recounts the angel's words,

do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar

and behold, God has granted you all those who

sail with you. Paul's confidence in God's power

and promise spill out and his encouragement to

the frightened crew. So take heart, men. For

I have faith in God that it will be exactly as

I've been told. So how does Paul respond in light

of his confidence in God's promise? How does

knowing the outcome of the story affect him for

the rest of the journey? Here's where it gets

interesting. As we watch Paul in action, we see

how Paul lives. in light of God's sovereignty.

And what we see may surprise us. Even though

Paul believes in God's promises to save everyone

on board, he sees human actions as still having

a great significance for good or ill. When Paul

learns of the sailors' plan to escape in lifeboats,

Paul warns the soldiers to stop them. Unless

these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.

In Acts 27, 31. So when we think of sovereignty,

you can think of a monarch, a king, a queen,

or a supreme ruler. You can think of someone

who has all authority, omnipotence. Someone who's

supreme and independent power or authority in

government is possessed or claimed by the state

or the community. So if God is sovereign, then

he has the ability to control the weather. And

like Sergeant Olson quoted from Jesus, In Luke

17, 6, it says, Then certainly this prayer from

a faithful follower should have been heard and

the rain would immediately stop. The trick here

is that we neglect to remind ourselves about

God's sovereignty. He has the power. He is all

-powerful, but he's also all -knowing. And his

thoughts are not our thoughts, which we see in

our text. for my thoughts are not your thoughts

neither your ways my ways declares the lord for

as the heavens are higher than the earth so are

my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts

than your thoughts sergeant olson neglected to

provide space for god's will within the storm

often we are in a storm we can't see the whole

picture when we are tired hungry cold wet grumpy

That is when we tend to judge God and his lack

of fulfilling of our prayers the harshest. But

God is always there and we can find our rest

in him even during the storms. So as we continue

on with Sergeant Olson's story, we read it. It

was, then I felt the Lord speak to my heart.

Dan, you say you have enough faith to believe

that I can stop the rain. Do you have enough

faith to trust me when I say that the rain is

for your own good? My answer was simple, no.

How could this exhaustion be for my own good?

What I needed was rest. I never did sleep and

the rain continued through the night. I lay awake

frustrated and cold until the sunrise. When we

mounted up again, we continued the march through

the next evening. When we stopped, I collapsed

onto my sleeping bag. The rain had stopped and

blissful sleep came upon me. This brings me to

my final point which is salvation the term salvation

can be described as the act of saving or protecting

from harm risk loss destruction the state of

being saved or protected a source or a cause

or a means of being saved or protected so a theological

definition would be deliverance from the power

and penalty of sin or redemption So as we reflect

on how Paul's confident declaration, all will

be saved, relates to his urgent warning, you

cannot be saved. We run into the mystery of the

divine sovereignty intersecting with human agency.

We also discover an important corrective for

those who push either side of the tension too

far. If we see God's sovereignty as editing out

human agency and responsibility, we don't see

it the way Paul did. If we become passive or

careless about life, believing that whatever

God has predetermined will automatically happen,

we are not following Paul's example. By the way,

this was the heir of the minister who allegedly

told missionary William Carney, young man, sit

down. When God pleases to convert the heathen,

he will do it without your aid or mine. If we

treat human choice and actions as irrelevant

in the outcome of life's story, We are off sides

with Paul. So Sergeant Olson's story continues.

We seized Jalabat after a fierce fight. When

the shooting stopped and the smoke cleared, I

got a closer look at the destructiveness of the

44 -day war. I crawled through the bunkers and

foxholes abandoned by the enemy and inspected

the area where the Iraqi troops slept the day

before. I felt the blankets that the enemy slept

under under the night that it rained so hard.

and in an instant god opened my eyes the blankets

were wet the holes in the ground were filled

with mud the bunker stank with mildew could it

be that the same rain that kept me awake had

demoralized these troops did the clouds and blowing

sand that made me so miserable conceal our forces

as we maneuvered for our attack didn't the pouring

rain uncover buried iraqi minefields and didn't

the stormy weather keep the enemy from using

its chemical weapons did the god whose hands

control the winds and rain know what was best

for me that night as i cried out in desperation

i humbly bowed my heart and soul and at that

moment i declared he did in acts twenty seven

verse thirty nine forty four it reads now when

it was day they did not recognize the land but

they noticed a bay with a beach on which they

planned if possible to run the ship ashore so

they cast off the anchors and left them in the

sea in the same time loosening the ropes that

tied the rudder then hoisting the foresail to

the wind they made for the beach but striking

a reef they ran the vessel aground the bow struck

and remained immovable and the stern was being

broken up by the surf the soldier's plan was

to kill the prisoners lest any soul should swim

away and escape but the centurion wishing to

save paul kept them from carrying out their plan

he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard

first and make for the land and the rest on planks

or on pieces of the ship and so it was that all

were brought safely to land paul's understanding

of god's sovereignty did not remove his belief

in the importance of human choice and actions

he understood human agency still carried historical

efficacy the soldiers and sailors could not do

anything they wanted and still count on being

saved by God's sovereign power. Their actions

would affect the ending of the story. People

are not chess pieces moved by a divine hand.

God has granted humans the power to impact outcomes

by our decisions. God's sovereignty and human

choices both matter. They are two sides of the

same coin, with God's side being the head and

ours the tail. In ways we cannot fully explain,

they merge into life's story in an amazing way.

Like gears that move in opposite directions but

still mesh together, divine sovereignty and human

agency work together to accomplish God's purpose.

Acts 27 shows us that in the midst of life's

storms, God's sovereignty plays out through human

choices and actions. He accomplishes his will

but does so through the thoughts and decisions

and actions. So in the midst of your storm, in

life, Rest in God's sovereign concern and control,

but also seek to take wise actions as you trust

him to accomplish his good purpose. If I could

have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever

you're listening, I just want to give a quick

invitation as we finish this message today. If

your heart's not right with God, if you're troubled

in your spirit, it's time to turn to Jesus. And

if you do want that, if you want to give your

life to Jesus, you can do that by signifying

that with an uplifted hand. This is a simple

thing. Obviously, I can't see you, but God sees

your heart. So if you raised your hand and you

meant that, I want you to just repeat after me.

Dear Lord, I know that Jesus Christ is your son

and that he came to earth and died for my sins.

I accept him as my Lord and Savior and I turn

from my sins. I turn from living away from you.

And I accept you as my sovereign Lord. In Jesus

name, I pray. Amen. If you've prayed that prayer

and you mean it, I do believe that your life

has changed and it will be changed. And if, you

know, from that point, if you need a Bible, if

you need anything, you know, that can help you

with your journey to move forward in Christ,

I want you to reach out to us here. If you're

in Salmon Arm, please come to church. Introduce

yourself. We'd love to see you. But again, thank

you for listening today. I think this was a bit

of a shorter message, and I pray that it helps

you and that you can go from this place and come

back again. And remember to like, share, and

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and just follow along with us as we strive to

build a work for God here in Salmon Arm with

a vision to plant churches locally and globally

and help us and partner with us in that. In Jesus'

name, I thank you for listening again. God bless

until you come back again. Bye. Thank you for

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