Bashan Ministries - Thank God for the storm

I like fishing but will not bore you with those stories of the one that got away, or the big one I brought home, but I do have many stories to tell.
I fished in creeks and estuaries, searching for Barramundi and other good fish, but it was often in crocodile country and so was not always a simple task. I also fished on the open sea. For a short while, I was the president of an amateur compteition fishing club that held several world records.

The club owned a 36 foot boat and sailed to parts of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the modern wonders of the world. We left harbor at midnight on Fridays and returned to shore Sunday evenings. On one of the trips that I attended, we received a weather report that a fierce storm had suddenly developed and immediately started to return to port. On the return journey, waves were breaking right over the top of the boat that was being tossed around like a cork and I have to admit that I was scared.

On one of my overseas visits, the aircraft was diverted because of a cyclone. The aircraft was being tossed around like a feather and I could see the fuselage twisting down the length of the airplane and watched the wings flap around like a bird’s wings. I’ve done a lot of flying, learned to fly, did aerobatics and so on and had a ball, but in that Boeing 777 I was scared. I was coming home from healing crusades in which astounding miracles of healing happened and a man was raised from the dead, but I was gripping my seat so hard I thought I’d break something.

I thought, “If we go down, I will be going home to be with the Lord”, but every time a lightning bolt flashed around us (I’ve been in an airplane hit by lightning which is scary) and that plane lurched and twisted again, I had to struggle to prevent fear from affecting me.

Under such circumstances, even Baptists and staid Presbyterians will start praying in tongues and heathens will call on the name of Jesus!

Isn’t that amazing? They deny Him on other occasions but call out then...

I said all that to say this. Life can be full of storms. Life can be going well for us when suddenly it seems that all hell has broken loose around our ears. We can be doing what we believe God wants and walk into hornets nests. What’s going on?

What is happening could be just what God wants! Don’t start thinking that God always sends trouble. Sometimes there is a sinister cause. Those storms of life that assail us can be for a reason so we need to know about what we need to know about it (sounds like a tongue-twister)!

I want to share several stories to illustrate. One is about Jonah. One is about Paul and one is about Jesus.

Jesus’ story is found in Mark 4:35 that says:

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

To lay the foundation, we shall look firstly at Jonah.

Jonah

The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.
But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”
Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”
Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. Jonah 1:1-10.

Clearly, God had an assignment for this man, but he refused to comply with the Lord’s wishes.

Rather than going there, he deliberately looked for a way to go in the opposite direction, away from his calling and away from God.

He will never enforce His will on us as such, because He has given us the freedom of choice.

If we refuse to co-operate, we could step out from beneath God’s umbrella of protection and expose ourselves to whatever may come our way.

As Jesus said in John 10:10, the devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy. Peter reveals in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil wanders around “as” a roaring lion wandering around looking for an opening to do whatever he wants to do. We can resist him of course as Peter added in the next verse and James also states this in James 4:7. Many years ago when I was asking the Lord certain questions on such matters, His reply was very simple, “Don’t open a porthole up in a submarine”.

God presents us with choice processes and He usually honours that choice.

People often blame God for natural disasters, dubbing them “an act of God” but they are just what they are called—natural disasters that follow the course of nature.

God’s plan remains the same and He does not change His mind. Conditions and circumstances do. Other people can influence our lives. People asked to come to help us can refuse to do so. God could be asking us to do a certain thing, but we might procrastinate, refuse to do it, or want it to happen in our own timeframe. His plan is His plan.

Jonah ran away, going in the opposite direction, but God had a plan. If it is a specific plan that God wants done, He will do whatever it takes to put it into effect. He might choose someone else, or He could take some kind of direct action.

The question to ask therefore is, “Did God hurl a storm against Jonah, was it a natural phenomena that was used, or was it an evil malevolent force designed to hinder Gods plan?

Think of this for a moment and when I get to a story involving Jesus, remember this question.

The important thing I want to tell you is that God knows! Often times, other people around us also know. What we do or neglect to do can and does influence others. Those sailors were going to drown because of one man’s disobedience and one man’s disobedience in a garden thousands of years ago affected us today. Our own disobedience could have repercussions and affect other people.

When that storm hit, those seasoned sailors—who didn’t know God—found out that their imminent demise was because of that one man and they knew that he was fleeing from God. They know! Pretenders are only fooling themselves. There is much more to Jonah’s story of course, but I have to keep going and the next man we will look at is Paul.

Paul

Acts chapter twenty-one us a record of Paul’s travels when he stopped in Philip’s house. A prophet by the name of Agabus prophesied, saying that Paul would go bound in Jerusalem. Prophets are still a valid and important ministry today and are one of the five ascension gift ministries that Jesus has given to His Church to help us reach maturity and harmony.

Prophecy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, discussed in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14 and they also are still valid today. This is a vocal gift that is designed to edify, exhort and bring comfort, usually exercised in a corporate meeting.

The person who prophecies in that manner is not necessarily a prophet, but is merely exercising this gift as the Holy Spirit gives utterance. Paul stated that this manifestation is subject to assessment, or to check the validity—by those who can prophesy.

When such a word is given, it should ideally confirm something that we already know.

We should not act upon such messages simply because someone made a statement. In this instance, Agabus told Paul that he would experience problems if he went to Jerusalem and go there in bonds. It confirmed what the Lord had already told Paul.

Certain religious people made a commotion and he was arrested. Plots were made to kill him, but Paul knew that he had an assignment, having been sent by the Lord to the Gentiles.

In Acts 23, a riot started and Paul was taken into the castle for his protection and there the Lord told Him he had to go to Rome. The authorities were undecided about what to do with him, so Paul made an appeal to be heard by Caesar. He was a Roman citizen and such an appeal automatically meant that he had to be taken to Rome.

Sometimes we have to take a real positive stand on a known fact, to align ourselves with God’s plan for our lives.

This is the focal point of this part of our story. Once committed to this course of action, Paul found great opposition and problems in reaching his objective. Follow this in Acts 27. Paul perceived that this journey would be disastrous and tried to warn the ship’s captain, who refused to listen. That man was supposed to be an experienced mariner, but he did not act in that manner.

At that time of year, the prevailing weather was not suitable for such travel and any wise sailor sheltered from the seasonal storm that was so well known people gave it a name—Euroclydon.

Cyclones and hurricanes are each given a name for that specific occasion, but Euroclydon happened—every winter!

Sometimes other people can get in the way! Other people can hinder you, either deliberately or without realizing it. There are different reasons for this. They might not see your vision, or be at the sale level of understanding at that time, or even be envious or jealous of you.

We should not discount the possibility that God does not want you with them at that time. He may permit that later perhaps.

If you look at a building project, you may see scaffolding. It is there for a purpose and it is only required during the construction work, but when the project is finished, the scaffolding is no longer required—for that particular project. It can be dismantled and taken to the next site. Some believers are scaffolding believers! Their job is to assist you and then go assist someone else.

Don’t hang on to them, but let them go with your blessing.

Other people can be like that ship captain! I need not elaborate. Get the mind and will of God in such matters. Paul did. The Lord told him precisely what He wanted, where He wanted Paul to go and even sent an angel to assure him all was going according to plan.

If you study this account, you will see that Paul was precisely in the center of the will of the Lord—but was shipwrecked, nearly drowned, lost his possessions, nearly froze, ate nothing for days, got lost and was driven out of control by the storm until they found a beach. He avoided being killed by the soldiers and got bitten by a deadly poisonous adder, all whilst going where the Lord told him to go!

That storm turned out to be a blessing, because he ministered to the people of Malta with signs, wonders and miracles of healing and 276 people’s lives were saved. The head man of the island took him into the palace, fed him clothed him and honored him in many ways.Sometimes your problem is a means of helping others.

When he continued his journey to Rome, the population of the island gave him possessions and money!

What he lost was more than regained and Paul had enough money to eventually buy a house in Rome!

He could have legitimately said, “Thank God for that storm.”

His journey was not a sudden decision, but something he had wanted to do for a long time. He said:

My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”
In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.
But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.
But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there. Romans 15:20-25.

Sometimes we feel like Paul. We’ve tried to get to some places, only to cancel because of cyclones, or floods and on some occasions because we were betrayed by fellow Christians we trusted!

Our friends in some other countries have been asking us when we will be visiting them for ministry.

When we ask the Lord when, He says one of two things. One is wait. The other is soon—but how soon is soon?

His timing is perfect and we need to learn.

When I read this about Paul, it blessed me, because he had the same problems we have had and we are prone to think we are the only ones in the world who go through problems!

Paul also said:

Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! Yes, you are our pride and joy. 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20.

That word for hindered is enkoptō and it is like someone getting into a big D9 bulldozer and cutting a big trench across the freeway. I thought about someone deliberately opening valves or removing the bungs to slowly let water into a ship and scuttle it. Sometimes the devil tries to sink our ship. He could be aware that God is doing something or about to do something and tries to hinder our progress. We have experienced deliberate attempts to sink our ministry; avoided an assassination attempt and I have had a gun pointed at my head, so we know what it is like. Paul had such things happen to him often. You should read his testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33.

The point I want to leave with you here is that if the Lord has an assignment for you (and you did not pick it our for yourself), you will reach your destination. You might go through difficulties, but as I shall soon reveal, the Lord is always with you and you will come out the other side smelling sweet as roses. This brings me to the next story.

Jesus

In Mathew chapter fourteen, Jesus had been preaching for a long time (sometimes preachers can be a little long-winded if we really have something to say. Others just talk!) and it was well past store closing hours. The people had come a long way to hear him and were hungry, so He fed them! It is simple! Actually, He created the setting and the disciples fed the people. Think of it. Matthew says that 5000 men and an unknown number of women and children were fed and there was enough left over to feed the disciples and the boy who sowed the seed. He did not give them scraps but good edible portions.

In Matthew 14:22, Jesus insisted that the disciples get into a boat—for a specific purpose. He wanted them on the other side of the water. God works to a plan—His and we need to find out at all times what that plan is and get alongside that.

He went to the mountain to pray and spend quality time with the Father to receive His next ministry assignment and to build Himself up! The disciples were out there on the water. Many of them were professional fishermen. They knew about boats. They knew about fishing, especially fishing at night. They could read the weather, but this time something unusual happened!

I believe that the storm that hit them came up so suddenly it took them by surprise! The question remains, “Why?” I shall deal with this soon.

At around 3am, Jesus caught up with the boat. He had been praying, so was “charged up” and had an assignment, so He walked down the mountain and just kept walking towards His objective. I hope you see something here. He had an assignment. That was His objective and nothing was going to stop Him from reaching it.

His objective was Bethsaida. There were crowds of people there who were sick, many of them bedridden. Everywhere He went, people carried their sick folk out on their beds and into the streets so that they could receive their healing. Some of them asked if they could touch the border of His garment. That’s all they wanted and everyone who touched Him was healed. See Mark 6:45-56.

When we read such bible stories, we need to link them all together. One flows into another, because the gospel accounts give testimonies of what happened. In Mark chapter 4, Jesus had been teaching three different groups of peoples and then got into a ship to open a branch of His ministry as we shall see later, came back by ship—yet again—raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, met the woman who had the issue of blood (see my story of “The woman who stopped God”), fed the 5000 and then went to the “other side” as per our present story.

I now want to show you something very intriguing. Mark says that the disciples were in that boat, “Toiling in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them”. The son of friends of mine rows. Sculling is his chosen sport and he is good at it, winning medals in various championships. I’ve watched him and if he were my own son, I would be very proud of him. It is hard work! I once saw how his hands were blistered. That’s toiling in rowing for sure, but those disciples were up against something very different. The Greek word is basanizō that describes someone in great distress, pain, torment and vexation. It is derived from another word that talks about torture!

The word used for rowing in this instance is elaunō. This is a kind of obsolete word of unknown origin, but relates to being pushed by wind or oars, to carry or drive and...dæmoniacal power!

I never assume things; never take what others say for granted and always check things out for myself and I don’t care who is preaching! I say it often and quote Acts 17:11 in the process, so you check me out too! I’ve seen this story scores of times and it fascinated me because their journey was not all that far really. My sculling friend could row it! It is not as if they were crossing the Mediterranean or something. They were sailing up the shoreline (a distance of approximately 5Km) and other people were following by foot to catch up with the Lord. I asked questions like, “How come it took so long for experienced seamen to go such a short distance and what happened?” The answer is in elaunō. The enemy tried to sink them. He did not want Jesus to heal so many people. Perhaps he mistakenly thought that Jesus was in the boat too. After all, the devil is not as smart as people give him credit for. He is dumb really. He has no access to revelation knowledge but we do. He does not possess any of God’s attributes of being all-knowing, ever present and all powerful and he is a created fallen angel!

The Lord had received His assignment from the Father and embarked on that journey. He strolled down the hill to the seashore—and just kept going! He had the distant shore in His sight and had to pass by the disciples in that boat.

I draw your attention to His early words to them, “Follow me”. Perhaps He expected all of them and follow Him! Perhaps He wanted to show them all something but only one man saw it.

That man was Peter. We talk of him as rash, brash, crude, rude, uneducated and the man who denied Jesus 3 times, but he was the only one who declared Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God in Matthew 16:16 and declared He had the words of eternal life in John 6:68.

In the midst of that raging storm, all of Jesus’ disciples were scared, wet, cold, confused and had forgotten that Jesus had told them, “I’ll see you on the other side!”

Jesus already saw Himself on the other side, so kept going and, as He drew near the ship, they saw Him and panicked into thinking it was a spirit. I once thought that they thought Jesus was that spirit, but stopped to think. Was it Jesus they saw, or the demonic force trying to kill them? If so, that may be why Peter wanted to know if it was Jesus or not.

We too may need to ascertain the truth. Jesus told us that of we are His sheep, we can hear His voice, but also said that we can hear other voices. There are many voices out there all clamoring for our attention. If we do not recognize the Good Shepherd’s voice, we could be deceived, so get to know His voice and get to know what God says in His word. We can learn to tell the difference.

Jesus was so close He saw that they were afraid and immediately spoke to them.

But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Matthew 14:27.

The original text states, “I Am is here!” The “great I Am” was right there beside the boat, in the middle of a dæmoniacally driven storm. No matter where you are or what is happening to you—He is there! If He is there, something is really happening and so in a sense, you can thank Him for that storm.

Peter wanted to make sure and I agree with him in that, asking a simple question, “Is that You Lord?” Jesus did not say, “Yes.” Why? We can learn to recognize His voice and need not ask. The Spirit of God within us now assures us of such things (but never take a thing for granted. Make sure). Peter himself gave the answer.

“If I am seeing and hearing right, then call me” so Jesus said one word, “Come”.

Peter did not tell Him to wait until he checked out his favorite bible verses, or confer with someone else for confirmation. Sometimes we need to do such things, but lets get real about it. We should be mature enough as believers to know. On that one little four-letter word, Peter swung his legs over the side and stepped out. The other 11 watched. They all heard the same word, “Come” but only Peter acted on it. They must have watched him walking on the water. Why didn’t they follow him? You can answer that I suppose, but the point is that one man only got out of the boat. If you stay in your boat, all you will see is other disciples like those 11.

You’ve probably heard people talk on how Peter took his eyes off Jesus and started to look at the waves and how his focus changed from the solution to the problem. I need not elaborate. The significant point is that the Lord was so close to them all, in the middle of that howling banshee He did not have to yell, but said only one word! He was so close to Peter that He only had to stretch forth His hand to grab Peter.

I measured my hand from the wrist to the fingertips and it is only around 180mm or 7 inches. I then measured from my armpit to my fingertips and that is less than 600mm or 2 feet!

Sometimes we feel that God is a million miles away, but that is not true. Sometimes we think that He does not care about what is happening to us, but He does care for us.

He has not only made provision, He is always there. Our problem is that we do not live as if this were true.

I’ve briefly touched on how that storm could have been caused in some way by the devil. I will not have time to discuss the incident in Mark 4:35-41, but this too was a storm designed to kill them all. This is a study I titled “Shhh”. If you want to receive that study please write to me and I will present it. It is most interesting.

Peter states that the devil had embarked on a way of life that is designed for one purpose and that is to take us out. He said-
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8.

Please note that the devil is Not a roaring lion—he is Like one. He is a con man and if you know the truth you can walk in the victory that Jesus won for you and not fear the enemy. He prowls around looking for a weakness in your armor and then pounces. This is why Peter told us to resist him steadfast in the faith and James said that he would flee from us. The proviso is being steadfast in the faith. If you do not know, you can’t resist!

I want to bring this to a close now and backtrack to something else Peter said. Just before he warned us about the devil and his tricks, he said:

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

That word for casting is epiriptō. The act of casting is a forceful act. It is a deliberate hurling out and away from you for a reason—to catch fish. Successful casting a net like that requires practice and often involves plain hard work. Often times it can become dirty because one can get covered with mud and the like. Getting the net to open or spread is essential for success and that requires practice.

The good things of God do not always happen or come to us automatically. Everything is a free and lavish gift, but there are things we must do or the promises will not work.

Epiriptō gives the idea of forcibly throwing the things that distract us away and of dividing or sharing. Another meaning speaks about being in solitude. Sometimes we may feel alone when trying to handle our problems ourselves. What the Holy Ghost said through Peter is to stop trying to work it out yourself; stop worrying; stop thinking you are helpless and carrying a heavy burden all alone. I doubt if I can carry a 100Kg or 220 pound weight by myself, but if I get someone to share the load with me, we can carry it together.

In modern English, take that heavy knapsack of worries, problems, concerns and so on off your own back and give it to Jesus to carry.

When the storms of life come to assail us, what happens is determined by what we put in. Nothing in, nothing out. Garbage in; garbage out. If there is no word of God being put into our lives no word can come out. Paul had a prophecy and a promise, but he would have never reached Rome without input of his own. Peter had a word from Jesus, but he could have sat in that boat and drowned with the others. One story of them in a boat during a storm states that they received Him Into their boat. In other words, they took him in—they reached out to help Him climb aboard.

You and I apparently have to get active to win. We must resist the devil, but first submit to God. We must speak what we have to speak, step out of the boat when we must take such a step. When we do such things, we know for sure that I Am is always near—a hands length away.

Even if your ship sinks, then God can replace what was lost as He did for Paul.

If you are as lost as a goose in a fog, He can give you the right directions where to go, when to go and how to do it.