One of the leading themes that the Spirit is emphasizing in the Church today is the theme of “Spiritual Warfare” and for good reason. We are at war. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. But it won’t be for lack of effort on the devil’s part.

It’s hard to talk about spiritual warfare without referring to the Apostle Paul. He was no stranger to it, he wasn’t surprised by it, and he never avoided it. In Acts 9:15-16, you can see that it was part of his calling. “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” In verse 15, you have what I call the “romance of the call, but in verse 16, you have the “reality of the call.” You can’t bear the name without suffering for the name. It’s a package deal.

In 2 Corinthians 11:23-25, we find the reality of Paul’s call to bear the name of the Lord Jesus. Among the things he had to go through was being shipwrecked three times. You would think that if the Lord was sending Paul to the Gentiles, to the kings of the world, and to the nation of Israel that the least He could do would be to make sure Paul wouldn’t get shipwrecked. My question is, “why did God allow it?” I hope to answer that as we proceed.

Isaiah 54:17 states that “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” This verse does not say that a weapon won’t be formed and that it wouldn’t be allowed to come against you. It does say that God won’t let it prosper.

Acts 27 & 28 Tells of the one recorded shipwreck that Paul went through. In this story there are two weapons that were formed and allowed to come against Paul in order to keep him from fulfilling the call that was on his life. The two weapons were the storm he had to get through and the snake that he had to deal with.

I am going to use this story as an analogy to help you understand that the call of God on your life will cause the “storms to start brewing and the snakes to begin to wait.”

There are eight phrases in this story that describe what will happen when someone begins to walk out the call of God on their life.

1.  Acts 27:14 – “Before long the storm.” You need to understand that if you are going to make progress in God you need to become more than a “port” Christian. A “port” Christian is someone who has ventured out to fulfill God’s call. This Christian has not anticipated the storms and is unprepared for them. Instead of weathering the storm, they are turned back by the storm and decide to remain in the safety of the port.
2.  Acts 27:18 – “They began to jettison the cargo.” When things get stormy, you will be highly motivated to jettison anything that may be weighing you down or hindering you. The storm will help you to evaluate the difference between needs and wants.
3.  Acts 27:24-25 – “Do not be afraid . . . take courage . . . believe God.” The key to this phrase is to believe what God has said to you. It is what God has said to you that has brought you to this stormy time in your life. If you believe God has sent you, then you know that He is with you. Therefore, you can take courage and overcome your fears.
4.  Acts 27:30-31 & Acts 28:1 – “Escape from the ship . . . remain in the ship . . . brought safely through.” Circumstances will scream at you to try and escape the storms. If you will remain in the storm knowing that God has called you, He is then able to bring you safely through the storms.
5.  Acts 28:2 – “Shown extraordinary kindness.” This is our motivation to get through the storm. On the other side of the storm is where our prayers get answered. It is where we reap our reward.
6.  Acts 28:3 – “Paul gathered sticks . . . laid them on the fire . . . the snake came out because of the heat.” Paul was a servant. It’s in serving your fellow man that you open yourself up to snakes. When you start ministering to them in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the snakes come out.
7.  Acts 28:3 & 5 – “It fastened itself to him . . . he shook it off into the fire.” As you minister to people, the things of the enemy will try to fasten themselves to you in order to hinder your service. Things like fears, doubts, anger, disappointments, hurts, misunderstandings, resentments, discouragements, and disillusionments will “jump out to bite you.” When they do, you can either let them cling or you can shake them off into the same fire that exposed them. If you let them cling, they will poison the work of God in your life.
8.  Acts 28:6 – “They expected . . . they waited . . . they changed their minds.” When you go through storms and encounter snakes, the world expects you to react the way they would. They expect crying, anger, bitterness. The world waits to see if what you have is just show or if it’s real. People will change their minds when they see the reality of your faith. Both storms and snakes test and demonstrate the reality of what you are and have. By the way you face the storms and snakes in life will either confirm the world’s view of Christianity or you will change their minds. Here lies the “why” of warfare.