Have Courage, Keep Believing God

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Imagine yourself in the blackness of night being pitched back and forth in a life threatening storm. Got it? OK, now imagine someone yelling above the raucous, “Don’t lose heart. Keep up your courage because God told me everything was going to be fine. I believe He will see us through.” Are you comforted, or do you think “Is this guy out of his mind? We’re all going to die before the night is over!”

An event like that is recorded in the Bible (Acts 27). It happened to the apostle Paul. He had complete confidence in God even when the world was unraveling around him. At that moment, he declared that God was in control, that everything would turn out fine because God is faithful to His Word. He knew who was really in control of the situation.

Another incident in Scripture repeats the claim. This time, Jesus told His disciples to go into the deeper part of the Sea of Galilee to catch some fish. The knowledgable fisherman could have taught Jesus a thing or two about catching fish in Galilee. One, you don’t net fish in the daytime, and, two, you stay close to the shoreline where fish are caught in abundance. In this story, they had fished an entire night with nothing to show for it. It was Peter who said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” [Luke 5:5]. Low and behold, they caught a lot of fish!

Master = Commander. That’s how the word was used in nautical terms; one who controls the ship. 

Do you see it? God is in control, even in desperate times. That is a good lesson for us to learn. There is so much hoopla going around these days. The world seems to be unraveling around us. Don’t panic. Keep the faith. God is in control. He is the Master of the ship. 

Go ahead, say it, “I believe God!” Good. Now keep the faith. Be courageous. Neither ISIS, nor Hollywood, nor Washington DC, nor the Democrats, nor the Republicans, nor the White House, nor the United Nations is in control. God is!

Maybe you should say it again, ”I believe God!”

So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as he told me. Acts 27:25