“Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again.”

I’ve experienced two actual hurricanes.  Neither were much fun.  Both had an amount of time that the eye passed and there was calm.  And then, the storm started all over again.  In the corporate world, I have been in so many business hurricanes that I can’t count them.  And, strangely enough, many of the times there were also moments of calm.  What is important about the eye of the storm is to be able to decipher the difference between the end of the storm and what is only the eye.  A miss in the understanding of which is which, can be disastrous.  It’s worth taking the extra time to be as certain as possible where we are in the storm.

There is no doubt that the Apostle Paul knew what a storm felt like.  He was literally shipwrecked, but he also had to experience hardships far beyond what many, if not any of us will endure.  And, he taught us how to recognize these storms as moments when he drew closer and closer to the Lord.  He taught us that in the worst of the storms we can find peace and calm that are real and can be continuous, no matter where we are in the storm.

Reference:  2 Corinthians 11:23 (New Living Translation)