On the sea of life, the storm is a
regular occurrence that hit hard on man and his environment. We are all on a voyage
in the sea of life. As we sail on, the voyage may turn out to be stormy.
The storm may cause or threaten to
cause a shipwreck, but you need to realise that if you are going to reach your
destination, you must be ready to deal with the storm that threaten to drown
you.
The aim of every storm in your life
is to drown you and keep you from being the best that God wants you to be. But
whether you will drown or float depends on how you respond to the storm.
The good news is that you are not at
the mercy of the storm. God does not create you to be overwhelmed by the storm
of life. You are not created to be a loser but a winner.
You can calm every storm in your
life. God has given you what it takes to calm every storm that is threatening
to drown you. The weapon God has delivered into your hand is FAITH. The Bible
says, “THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH.” (1 John
5:4).
It is your faith that gives you the
victory you desire. The storm of your life will not bow to anything except your
faith. All the obstacles in the world put together cannot hinder your progress
in life as long as you maintain an unshakeable faith for victorious living.
The life of faith is life of victory.
To calm every storm of your life, you must endeavour to develop an unshakeable
faith for that purpose.
How do you develop an unshakeable
faith that will calm every storm in your life? Below are four steps you can
take. Read them, digest them, practice them and you will surely calm every
storm in your life.
1. Launch Forth
Victory does
not come until you step out of your ‘comfort zone.’ You cannot actually
celebrate victory until you launch out, holding unto the faith that whatever
happens, you will emerge victorious in the end.
One reason
some people may never experience breakthroughs is that they find it difficult
to get out of their comfort zone. In the field of motivation, ‘comfort zone’ is
a situation where a person feels he must not do anything about his situation.
Comfort zone
does not really imply that that a person is actually comfortable, well-to-do,
or contented with the situation he is in. comfort zone denotes a situation
where a person wishes to change his fortune, but because of doubt and fear of
the unknown, he chooses to remain in his present situation.
To such a
person, it is better or more comfortable to remain in one’s present situation,
no matter how unpleasant it may be, than to step out into a ‘probably’ worse
situation.
Dear reader, do
you find yourself in this kind of situation? You desire a positive change, you
want to change your financial situation and yet, somehow you lack the courage
to step out of your comfort zone?
You are not
alone in this situation. Most people who achieve very little in life would
testify that they never took risk by stepping out of their comfort zone.
They prefer
doing nothing to attempting something and fail. Their opinion about failure is
that failure is the worst thing to happen to them.
Dear reader,
when you hold unto this kind of opinion, you may never be able to develop the
courage to step out and do something worthwhile. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING
GAINED.
To build the
faith that calms every storm in your life, you must force yourself to take the
first step. A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. Until you
take a step, nothing happens. STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE IS THE STARTING
POINT TO BUILDING THE FAITH THAT CALMS EVERY STORM ON THE SEA OF LIFE.
Don’t be
afraid of failure. Failure is not a crime. In fact, it is better to try and
fail than not to try at all. People who tried and failed stand a better chance
to succeed than those who never tried at all.
Ponder this:
The worst risk you will ever take is taking no risk at all. The biggest mistake
you will ever make is making no mistake. Note also that fear of failure is the
number one destiny destroyer.
You need a
leap of faith to enable you launch out of your comfort zone. TRAIN YOUR MIND TO
BELIEVE THAT EVERY STEP YOU TAKE WILL LEAD TO A POSITIVE OUTCOME. BE OPTIMISTIC
REGARDLESS OF THE WAY YOU FEEL. KEEP BELIEVING THAT WHEN YOU TAKE A STEP,
THINGS WILL START WORKING OUT FOR YOUR GOOD.
When your
mind is saturated with positive and optimistic thought, you will soon realize
that taking steps of faith is as easy as ABC.
2. Face the Storm
The storm
bows to no one except men and women of faith. On a certain day, Jesus and his
disciples boarded a ship to cross to the other side of the sea. As they sailed,
there arose storm which threatened to drown them. Jesus, who was asleep, was
woken up by the cries of His disciples.
Jesus then
faced the storm and rebuked it: “Peace be still.” And there was calm! Jesus’
reaction against His disciples’ attitude toward the storm shows the importance
of faith in the midst of the storm.
To His
disciples He said, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
THE FAITH
THAT CALMS THE STORM IS THE FAITH THAT REMAINS UNSHAKEN IN THE MIDST OF THE
STORM. No amount of crying, wailing and worrying can calm the storm in your
life. The only thing that can calm every storm in your life is FAITH.
Faith will do
for you what weeping and crying cannot do. What Jesus expects us to do in time
of storm was what he did on the stormy Sea of Galilee. He faced the storm and
rebuked it. The next time you come face to face with the storm, rather than cry
and weep, hold unto your faith believing that the storm will pass and it shall
be so.
3. Measure the Storm By God
The faith
that calms the storm is the faith that measures the storm by God. One big
mistake we normally make whenever we are faced with problems is that we try to
measure the problems by our capability.
In our mind,
we imagine the problems as insurmountable and see ourselves as weaklings. On
the stormy sea, Peter once walked on water to meet Jesus. When he saw the wind boisterous,
he became afraid. He cried out and Jesus rescued Him.
Peter nearly
drowned because he allowed fear to grip him. He tried to measure himself by the
size of the storm. Seeing himself helpless in the midst of the storm, he knew
he was in trouble.
Dear reader,
whenever you encounter a problem that looks insurmountable, don’t measure the
problem by your strength, if you do, you may drown. By your physical strength,
you can do little or nothing. Don’t measure the storm by your power. Great
victories are not won by physical and mental strength. The arms of flesh don’t
always prevail in great battles.
The Bible
says it is God that gives us victory (see 1 Cor. 15:57). It is God that gives
us power to get wealth. Therefore, whenever you are confronted with the storm,
measure the storm by God.
When you do
this, you will begin to see the storm as insignificant before the Almighty God,
the Creator of the universe and Creator of the storm itself, and consequently,
your faith will increase.
THE FAITH
THAT CALMS THE STORM IS THE FAITH THAT MEASURES THE STORM BY GOD. The secret of
building the faith that calms every storm is to simply put your trust in God
who is uncountable times bigger than any storm. In the Book of Jeremiah 32:27
God said, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too
hard for me?”
Don’t trust
in your own power and ability alone; trust in God’s power and ability. For, “by
the arm of flesh shall no man prevail.” ONLY AN UNSHAKEABLE FAITH IN THE
ALMIGHTY GOD CAN CALM EVERY STORM IN YOUR LIFE.
4. Focus on a Clear Coast
What will
bring you the victory you desire faster is your focus on that victory. Focusing
on victory does not mean you are denying the existence of the storm. Focusing
on victory implies refusing to surrender to the storm.
THE WAY TO
DEVELOP THE FAITH THAT CALMS THE STORM IS TO PRACTICE TAKING YOUR EYE OFF THE
STORM.
The storm
will always be contrary. Storm represents opposition, obstacle or problems that
threaten to hinder you from getting to the other side where success and victory
lie.
The storm may
threaten to cause a shipwreck. The storm may slow down your rate of progress.
The storm may slow down your effort in the pursuit of your endeavour, but don’t
focus on them. learn to focus on victory that is at the other side.
The reason
people get stuck and never achieve victory is that they focus too much on all
the negative things that are happening in their lives.
By focusing on
the negative, they lose sight of the victory that awaits them on the other
side. People who focus on the negative end up destroying the faith they have
been building over the years.
Victory comes
to those who focus on victory. If you are going to be victorious in life, you
have got to take your eyes off the negative, unpleasant situations and focus
your mind on victory.
A clear coast
is what you should keep seeing in your mind. Even when everything is going
worse in your life, keep seeing a clear coast. Keep focusing on victory. As you
do, you will have the victory you desire. Remember, it is what you expect that
you get.
Remember also
that no unpleasant condition is permanent. It may be bad, worse or worst today.
The situation may look like a shipwreck situation and you may be wondering how
you will be able to get out of it. You might have concluded that there is no hope
anymore.
But listen:
every storm in your life is expected to last only for a while. Every storm has
its lifespan. No storm is expected to continue forever. You may not know and in
fact you don’t need to know when the storm will pass. WHAT IS HOWEVER REQUIRED
OF YOU IS TO HOLD ON TO THE HOPE THAT AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, THE STORM WILL
CALM.
5. Exercise Patience
In developing
the faith that calms the storm, you need patience. When you have patience, you
will have everything you desire. Patience is necessary for developing the faith
that calms the storm. John Avanzine said, “PATIENCE IS THE BATTERY THAT RUNS
THE CLOCK OF FAITH.”
Can you keep
working, hoping and waiting, PATIENTLY, for the storm to pass? Or will you
allow the storm to frustrate and discourage you from making progress in life?
Dear reader, the secret of building
the faith that calms the storm has been handed to you in this article and it is
summed up as follows:
a.
Launch
out by stepping out of your comfort zone. A journey of a thousand miles begins
with just one step;
b.
Face
the storm. Refuse to be frightened by the storm. The storm bows ONLY to men and
women of faith who confront it;
c.
Don’t
measure the storm by yourself, measure it by God because it is ONLY God that
gives us victory; and
d.
Focus
on a clear coast. Regardless of the raging of the storm, focus on victory and speak
victory over the storm.
Till I come your way soon, go and
build the faith that will calm every storm in your life! Go and live
victoriously!
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