The God Of The Storm Series

Sometimes we’re headed for a storm and we don’t see it!

In this case God put Paul in their lives to warn them that trouble was coming if they didn’t turn back.

The writer of proverbs said,

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.” Prov 12:15

I thank God for the people in my life who have warned me!

Now, I haven’t always listened, and many times I’ve played the fool, but more and more I’ve learned to listen to the advice of Godly people.

And more and more these days I seek it out.

God puts warners, the Biblical word is "admonishers", in your life.

And when God does that, the best thing you can do is listen to them!

Most of the time, however, when we’re set on a course of action, the last thing we want to do is listen to someone else!

But remember Proverbs 12.

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”

Young people, sometimes the last people you want to listen to is your parents, but God put them there!

And He put them there as warners!

How do you think they know that if you hang out with the wrong people you’ll get in trouble?

It’s not some great parental wisdom that tells them that.

They know from experience!

I don’t know how many times I’ve counseled with a teenager in trouble and had them say to me, "I wish I’d listened to my parents!"

Sure they seem old-fashioned, sure they’re behind the times.

But most of the time their advice is exactly what you need to hear, whether you want to or not.

Well, the crew decided to ignore Paul’s advice.

Look at verse 11:

“But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.”

Two mistakes the centurion made here.

First, in verse 11, he followed the advice of the experts rather than God’s spokesman.

And second, in verse 12, he followed majority rule.

Do you know how dangerous that is?

12 men went into the land of Canaan to spy it out.

Ten came back and said, "There are giants in the land! We look like grasshoppers to them! There’s no way we can beat them!"

But Joshua and Caleb had a different report.

When they looked at the land, instead of giant warriors, they saw a mighty God who could do anything!

Look back over the history of the Israelites and take a look at all the disasters that took place because the majority ruled.

Over and over, we find the prophets, ostracized and alone, hated by the very people they were sent to speak to.

Why? Because the majority wasn’t willing to listen to God’s message!

What does that tell us about the leadership of God’s people today?

Thank God we’ve gotten away from the dictatorial style that used to be so prevalent.

But let’s not forget that leaders were meant to lead!