Your Promise kept me

I have continued my journey through Psalms 119 and came across two verses that lead to the following this morning. I pray it's a blessing!

Psalms 119:49-50 “Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”

Acts 27:21-26
Paul and his crew were sailing for Rome when they ran into a terrible storm. Prior to the storm, Paul warned them but they chose to continue on. When the storm started, it was only a “gentle south wind” but soon after became hurricane force winds. At that point they couldn’t fight it anymore and just had to go with storm. Through the storm they were throwing things overboard and barely holding the ship together. They were at the mercy of the storm, it seemed. In verse 20, it says they finally gave up all hope of being saved.
After that Paul stood up and encouraged the men. The night before, an angel appeared to Paul and told him not to be afraid because he had to stand trial before Caesar, in Rome. Essentially telling him not to be afraid of what you see and are going through right now, you’ll make it to Rome.

Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

We all go through storms in life, some we put ourselves in and others just seem to show up but God has given us hope. Sometimes that hope is all we have to stand on because we have no control in the storm; we just have to ride it out. We may lose things during the storm, it may seem like all hope is lost but we must be like Paul; or like Abraham who, against all hope, in hope believed and became the father of many nations because he put his hope in God’s promise. (Romans 4:18, Genesis 15:5)

Paul and Abraham made it just because they didn’t give up. Paul had no control over the storm, he didn’t know how long it would last but he waited patiently in hope. Abraham didn’t know when God was going to give him the promised child but it was his hope in the promise that kept him. The only way they would have not received their promise is if they would have given up. The only way Paul would not have made it to Rome was if he jumped ship. If he didn’t have this hope, that may have sounded like a good option but because he knew God’s word was true he knew he was safer in a beat up boat than trying to make it on his own.

There is only one person that will keep you from making it through life’s storms, you. There are many days and occasions where life feels like there’s no hope but against all hope, you must hope. Romans 4:24-25 says, “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” So our hope gives us the ability to wait. Our hope is our faith. Will we believe God and His promise or will we lose all hope and jump ship?

If God has given you a promise or spoken a word over your life, put your hope in it. He’s not a man that He would lie. Life is full of storms, you’re either in a storm, coming out of a storm or going in to a storm. Be like Paul who in the midst of his storm chose to believe God. The other part of the story that I didn’t mention was the fact that there were 276 people on that boat and just because of God’s promise with Paul; their lives were saved as well. All those connected to you in life, may be saved just by you standing on the word. It never says that they believed, it actually tells how some of them tried to jump ship and “save” themselves but Paul was able to convince them otherwise. You don’t know whose life you could save by not giving up.

I pray you were encouraged by something that was said and understand God would never put you in something or allow you to go through something He hasn't equipped you to handle.

Christ's Peace!