Sailor Take Warning

Daily Devotional for April 19^th

Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Act 27:9-10

As we travel the seas of life, we will encounter many things.  No one begins their Christian life fully knowing how to avoid Satan’s traps, snares, turbulent waters and tempests.  We also do not start out being able to discern the Lord’s direction for our lives on a day-to-day basis.  He did say, however, we are to Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

As Paul was taken to Rome, there were some things he was in tune to that the rest of the men were not.  He was made aware through the Spirit that a shipwreck was coming; it was imminent.  Did you know God will reveal things to you ahead of time in order to either prepare you, or else redirect your path?  Some people have fallen into Satan’s traps after God had forewarned them.  We tend to dismiss what the Spirit is telling us because it goes against our will or the direction we want to sail!

One of the most neglected areas in our walk with the Lord is the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives. The longer we live for the Lord, the more opportunity we have to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Spiritual discernment can prevent serious wreckage in your spiritual life.  God does not want any of us to sail the seas ignorantly.  An old sailor’s proverb says, “Red sky in morning; sailor take warning.”  This actually comes from Jesus in Matthew 16.  This is the world’s wisdom through experience that there are warning signs of coming trouble. So are the Holy Spirit’s warnings to us.  He will direct our paths and alert us,  We just need to learn to listen and obey.

God will delay our travels on purpose at times.  God sees Satan’s hurricanes at sea.  If we will learn to seek God’s direction, He will teach us how to navigate.  Our voyage in life does not have to end in shipwreck.  We can sail victoriously through.  But stop when the Holy Spirit prompts you.  If the Lord does not give us the okay to weigh anchor and launch then there is a reason.  It could be He has delayed our departure to prevent us from sinking at sea.  We must learn to listen and discern.  This will prevent us from sailing into hurricanes at sea.