Acts 27:23, “²¹ But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. ²² And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me…”

            In the above excerpt, Paul and the crew are in the middle of a storm. All hope was lost until an angel of God appeared to him. Don’t we all pray and hope that something similar will happen to us in the middle of our storms. If you live long enough in this life, you will walk through some terrible storms that will make you start questioning some of your core believes. In those moments we all hope that we will have an encounter like Paul did. The truth of the matter is that is a unique experience that Paul had. The way the Lord will speak to us in those times is through the peace within.

John 14:27, “²⁷ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Psalm 85:8, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints…”

            These above verses highlight an important truth. The truth they highlight is that we get true lasting peace from God. Nothing in this world can give us that kind of peace especially when we are going through a hard period in life. When the storms of this world are raging and there does not seem to be a way out. God’s peace will lead us through it.

            Hearing God in the middle of the storm is one of the most refreshing experiences. His voice does not just bring peace but also brings strength to overcome the situation. We know in life storms will come, so we must prepare ourselves during the calm times. We must train our spiritual ears to pick up the different ways God likes to speak to us. We develop our spiritual ears by reading and studying the word.

            Reading and studying the word is part and parcel of our spiritual walk. The more grounded you are in the word of God, the easier it is to tell God’s voice apart from your thoughts and the thoughts of the enemy. Another way of training our spiritual ears is by learning how to worship God. Worship is one of the most intimate ways of communicating with the Lord. It is through worship that you get to learn about the Lord. It is through times of worship that He reveals Himself. The more you read and study the word, and worship the Lord, you will begin to see how the two begin to overlap with each other. You will find yourself worshipping as you study the word, and you will find yourself studying the Lord as you worship Him.

            It is through this intimate relationship that we can overcome the storms of the world. It is through this relationship that the peace of God will dominate us in the middle of the storm. That is why Jesus said, ‘be of good cheer He has overcome the world.’ In that intimate relationship that we have with Holy Spirit, He will show us how to overcome any situation we face and have peace as we do it.