Billy Joe Daugherty - Overcoming the storms of life

Table of Contents

Why Do Storms Come?

At some time in life, every person faces storms in the form of situations, circumstances, obstacles, problems and difficulties. The storms come to take you off the course God would have you run. They come to deter you and to literally keep you from being all God wants you to be, from having all God wants you to have and from doing all He wants you to do.

Sometimes the storms are from the devil. Sometimes they are related to other people problems they are going through that affect you by your association with them. Sometimes you create our own storms by your own mistakes.

Most important to you is to know that you're going to make it and to know how to make it as an overcomer . The storms of life do not make you or break you. It is the Word of God working in your life that makes you victorious, and it is the lack of God's Word that makes people fail . The storm merely reveals whether you are a doer of the Word or just a hearer.

Power to Overcome

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:35-37

Paul was declaring that in any circumstance, we have the power to overcome. He also said:

I know how to be abased , and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:12-13

In other words, he was saying, "Circumstances don't dictate my life. What dominates me is what God has done in me and what He's yet doing for me."

To get through the storms of life, you need to know who you are in Christ, through what Jesus has done for you at Calvary, in the resurrection and in the sending of the Holy Spirit, and to know what He's doing right now at the right hand of the Father. Hebrews 7:25 says He's making daily intercession for you.

You may ask for prayer from other people, which is important. But there's one person you can count on who's praying for you and that is Jesus. He ever lives to make intercession for you. He's praying for you, not against you! He's praying for you to win!

Believe you are going to get through the storm you are facing. Expect God to help you. He cares about your life.

What God did for the apostle Paul, He will do for you. Declare out loud , "I am more than a conqueror through Him that loved me." With faith say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Build Your House on the Rock

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine , and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Now everyone who hears, these sayings of Mine, and does not do them , will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.

Matthew 7:24-27

The rains, winds and floods came against both houses. One was affected and the other wasn't . Jesus said all of us will encounter storms. Those who hear and do the Word of God will stand. Those who only hear but don't do the Word will fall. You decide whether you will stand or fall by what you do with God's Word.

Key For Overcoming

The key for overcoming is doing the Word of God . The wise man did the Word. Both the wise man and the foolish man heard the Word, but the wise man became a doer of the Word.

You'll be wise to become a doer of the Word that you know. You already know enough to put you over. If you simply do what you already know, you can be victorious in every area of your life. I am saying that for a reason, because many people improperly perceive that the solution to their problems is gaining more knowledge. In some cases, that may be true. But for the people who have heard the Word over a period of time, it's not necessarily more truth that they need, but it's the application of the truth they have already received.

Jesus didn't say the man who stood was the man who got more information. In fact, He says they both had the information. The overcomer was the one who took what he knew, applied it to the situation and put it into practice. He became a doer of the Word of God. In other words, there was a corresponding action .

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.

And He said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out.

But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing! Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.

And they ceased, and there was a calm.

But He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!

Luke 8:22-25

Jesus asked the disciples, "Where is your faith?" All the disciples could see was disaster, problems and difficulties. Jesus didn't commend them for waking Him up! He stopped the storm, but in essence, it was a rebuke! He said, "Where is your faith?" In other words, Jesus was saying, "You already have the faith to stop the storm and get through it. Why didn't you use it? Where is your faith?"

They had the ability to use their faith, but they didn't . Faith and fear repel each other. They're opposites. If fear rises up, faith goes out the door. If faith rises up, fear goes out the door. That's the key to coming through your storms: being a doer of the Word by releasing your faith and dispelling the fear.

Fear paralyzes while faith activates. When you believe what God says and stand on it, fear will leave you. But when you believe the circumstances and words the devil brings, then faith will leave.

Choose to believe the Word and doubt the lies of the enemy.

Jesus Faced Storms

If you're living for Christ, you've taken a stand against the devil. This means you'll encounter him head on. Wherever Paul preached and ministered, he was opposed . Jesus, from His very first message, was criticized and ridiculed . In fact, in His first hometown sermon, they tried to throw Him off a cliff and kill Him. That was just the beginning of opposition He encountered. Everywhere He went , Jesus faced storms : criticism, slander, and wrong words spoken about Him. If Jesus overcame all these storms, so can you because He lives in you.

Sometimes the storm people face is sickness or disease that tries to rob them of health. Sometimes it's a financial storm. You add up the bills and they exceed the income. Then there's a storm of worry and anxiety that tries to come against you over a family dispute.

Some face storms related to a relationship problem, with difficulties and misunderstandings in which people say critical things. Thank God, you and I are going to get through these storms.

Jesus lives in you by faith. Believe He is in you now and expect Him to help you overcome every storm through the faith He has given you.

Releasing Your Faith

Here are three primary ways to release your faith.

Believe the Word

You release your faith by what you believe in your heart ..

Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."