Are you facing trouble in your business or career? As you read the
  following verses, be reminded that career people and businessmen here are
  likened to seamen in ships. The great waters signify the big world of
  competition, an ocean of activity.  "They that go down to the sea in
  ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord,
  and his wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy
  wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. . . . They reel to and fro, and
  stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27).  
  These people are God's beloved saints. They are in awe of His greatness
  and power, but a storm breaks out that is beyond their control. It is not
  judgment for sin, yet suddenly waves are swamping them, swallowing up
  their boat. They are staggered by problems on all sides, and it looks as
  if their ship is going down. Suddenly they are confused and perplexed: 
  "Their soul is melted because of trouble" (verse 26).  Many career people
  have told me, "It looks bad. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I'm
  in a mess." They were able to solve their own problems in the past, and to
  escape one crisis after another. With this trial, however, there seems to
  be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted.  
  How easily we forget that our loving heavenly Father is our partner in our
  work, regardless of our career or calling. Indeed, nothing happens to us
  without His involvement. He has power over all our difficulties and He has
  a reason and purpose behind them all.  What can you do when your business
  partner has no advice and consultants cannot help you? 
  Where do you turn when your spouse, your pastor, your best friend has
  nothing to say to you? 

  I am not a businessman but I can point you to the seamen in Psalm 107:  
  "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of
  their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof
  are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them 
  unto their desired haven" (Psalm 107:28-30).   

When Adam sinned, he tried to hide from God. When Peter denied Christ, he was afraid to face him. When Jonah refused to preach to  Nineveh, his fear drove him into the ocean, to flee the presence of the Lord.
Something much worse than failure is the fear that goes with it.  Adam, Jonah, and Peter ran away from God, not because they lost  their love for him, but because they were afraid he was too angry
 with them to understand. The accuser of the brethren waits, like a vulture, for you to fail  in some way. Then he uses every lie in hell to make you give up,  to convince you that God is too holy or you are too sinful to come back. Or he makes you afraid you are not perfect enough or that
 you will never rise above your failure.   It took forty years to get the fear out of Moses and to make him usable in God's program. If Moses or Jacob or David had resigned  himself to failure, we might never again have heard of these men.  Yet Moses rose up again to become one of God's greatest heroes.  Jacob faced his sins, was reunited with the brother he had cheated, and reached new heights of victory. David ran into the house of  God, found forgiveness and peace, and returned to his finest hour.  Jonah retraced his steps, did what he had refused to do at first  and brought a whole city to repentance. Peter rose out of the  ashes of denial to lead a church to Pentecost.
 In 1958, I sat in my little car weeping; I was a terrible failure, I thought. I had been unceremoniously dumped from a courtroom after I thought I was led by God to witness to seven teenage murderers.
 My attempt to obey God and to help those young hoodlums looked as  though it were ending in horrible failure.   I shudder to think of how much blessing I would have missed if I   had given up in that dark hour. How glad I am today that God taught  me to face my failure and go on to his next step for me.

  Are you facing trouble in your business or career? As you read the
    following verses, be reminded that career people and businessmen here are
    likened to seamen in ships. The great waters signify the big world of
    competition, an ocean of activity.  "They that go down to the sea in
    ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord,
    and his wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy
    wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. . . . They reel to and fro, and
    stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27). 
  These people are God's beloved saints. They are in awe of His greatness
    and power, but a storm breaks out that is beyond their control. It is not
    judgment for sin, yet suddenly waves are swamping them, swallowing up
    their boat. They are staggered by problems on all sides, and it looks as
    if their ship is going down. Suddenly they are confused and perplexed:
    "Their soul is melted because of trouble" (verse 26).  Many career people
    have told me, "It looks bad. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I'm
    in a mess." They were able to solve their own problems in the past, and to
    escape one crisis after another. With this trial, however, there seems to
    be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted. 
  How easily we forget that our loving heavenly Father is our partner in our
   work, regardless of our career or calling. Indeed, nothing happens to us
   without His involvement. He has power over all our difficulties and He has
   a reason and purpose behind them all.  What can you do when your business
   partner has no advice and consultants cannot help you?
   Where do you turn when your spouse, your pastor, your best friend has
   nothing to say to you?
 I am not a businessman but I can point you to the seamen in Psalm 107: 
    "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of
    their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof
    are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them
    unto their desired haven" (Psalm 107:28-30).

The whole world is trembling right now over the outbreak of terror and calamities happening throughout the earth. Every day we wake up to learn of another disaster. Some observers say we are witnessing the beginnings of World War III.
Non-believers are becoming convinced there are no solutions left, that  everything is spinning into chaos because there is no “all-seeing governance.” But God’s people know differently. We know there is no reason to fear, because the Bible reminds us again and again the Lord has  everything under control. Nothing happens in the world without his
knowledge and governance. 
The Psalmist writes, “The kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor  among the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah declares to  the world, “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let
the earth hear, and all that is therein” (Isaiah 34:1). He’s saying,  “Listen, nations, and give me your ear. I want to tell you something   important about the Creator of the world.”   Isaiah states that when God’s indignation is aroused against nations and  their armies, it is the Lord himself who delivers them to slaughter.   “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance…. All nations before him are as nothing; and
 they are counted to him less than nothing…. It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as  grasshoppers…. To whom then will ye liken me?” (Isaiah 40:15, 17, 22, 25).
Isaiah then speaks to God’s people, who are battered and troubled by world events. He counsels, “Look up to the sky, to the glorious heavens. Behold  the millions of stars placed there. Your God created and named every one. 
Are you not more precious to him than they are? So, fear not.”  We are to know there is a map in heaven, a plan that our Father has outlined for the course of history. And he knows the end from the  beginning. As this plan comes to fruition, I believe we are to ask  ourselves this question: “Where is the Lord’s eye focused in all this?” 
God’s eye is not focused on the world’s tin-god dictators or their  threats. Scripture assures us these wild men’s bombs, armies and powers are as   nothing to the Lord. He laughs at them as mere specks of dust, and soon he  will blow them all away (see Isaiah 40:23-24).

When Adam sinned, he tried to hide from God. When Peter denied  Christ, he was afraid to face him. When Jonah refused to preach to Nineveh, his fear drove him into the ocean, to flee the presence  of the Lord.  Something much worse than failure is the fear that goes with it.
 Adam, Jonah, and Peter ran away from God, not because they lost  their love for him, but because they were afraid he was too angry with them to understand. The accuser of the brethren waits, like a vulture, for you to fail  in some way. Then he uses every lie in hell to make you give up,  to convince you that God is too holy or you are too sinful to come  back. Or he makes you afraid you are not perfect enough or that  you will never rise above your failure.
 It took forty years to get the fear out of Moses and to make him usable in God's program. If Moses or Jacob or David had resigned himself to failure, we might never again have heard of these men.
 Yet Moses rose up again to become one of God's greatest heroes. Jacob faced his sins, was reunited with the brother he had cheated, and reached new heights of victory. David ran into the house of God, found forgiveness and peace, and returned to his finest hour.
Jonah retraced his steps, did what he had refused to do at first and brought a whole city to repentance. Peter rose out of the  ashes of denial to lead a church to Pentecost.
 In 1958, I sat in my little car weeping; I was a terrible failure,  I thought. I had been unceremoniously dumped from a courtroom after  I thought I was led by God to witness to seven teenage murderers.
  My attempt to obey God and to help those young hoodlums looked as  though it were ending in horrible failure. I shudder to think of how much blessing I would have missed if I  had given up in that dark hour. How glad I am today that God taught  me to face my failure and go on to his next step for me.

 When the Spirit fell upon His disciples, they became fearless. As they
  went forth to the temple to witness, the Holy Ghost made their words
  cutting, convicting — as swords piercing the heart. They preached the
  gospel with power and authority because they had Holy Ghost fire within
  them.  Under this anointed preaching, in just a short time some five
  thousand people were saved. Even priests were converted. And further
  outpourings happened in nearby villages, in distant cities and even among
  Gentiles.  The best part of this unbelievable scene is that the church got
  all of its direction from the Holy Ghost. Nothing happened until the
  disciples had shut themselves in with the Lord and fasted and prayed. When
  they did this, the Spirit came and began to direct their every move. 
  Something else happened that was very important. The disciples were to
  take the gospel to every nation, every people, yet Jewish tradition
  forbade them even to touch the clothes of a Gentile. How were they
  supposed to bring the good news to people with whom they weren't even
  allowed to associate? It seemed to be an impossible command because even
  the Jewish converts held to these prejudices.  The widespread proclamation
  of the gospel began only when the Holy Ghost took over. The Spirit visited
  Peter during his daily prayer time on a rooftop: "The voice spake unto
  [Peter] again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou
  common (unclean)" (Acts 10:15).  He told Peter, "Don't dare call unclean
  what I have sanctified and made clean. Now, go downstairs, because there
  are some Gentiles knocking on your door. I want you to go with them and
  preach to them about Jesus!"  The Holy Spirit had solved the prejudice
  problem overnight. He opened up the Gentile world to the gospel simply by
  speaking to His followers. It was all clearly directed from heaven!   The
  powerful first-century believers received all their marching orders from
  the Holy Ghost Himself: “So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost,
  departed” (Acts 13:4). They never made a move until they first got alone
  with God and fasted and prayed. And the Holy Ghost answered them by giving
  clear direction!

  Like Paul, I have no confidence in the flesh. Some of the godliest people
  I have known have failed God miserably. I think of the awful temptation
  and failure of David, a man after God's heart.
  David was sorely tempted, fell into adultery, lied and then murdered an
  innocent man. I'm sure that when the prophet Nathan exposed him, Satan was
  convinced David was down for the count. He expected this man to throw up  
  his hands and say, "What's the use? I have disgraced God! I have sinned
  against the light and committed the very sins I've preached against. God  
  can never use me now. My heart is too black. I have been overpowered by sin."
  How wrong Satan was. Listen to David's cries after he repented: "The Lord
  hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death" (Psalm
  118:18). David said, "I was tempted and tried but God would not turn me
  over to Satan's  power."
  Beloved, if the devil comes at you with powerful temptations, it is not
  always because your heart is wicked. He could be attacking you because you
  have turned to the Lord. He is bringing fiery trials of lust and
  temptation against you to try to destroy your faith.
  "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
   you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Peter 4:12).
 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
   is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
   but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
   able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
 There is nothing at all strange about what is happening to you. You may be
   discouraged because the enemy has come against you like a flood. The
   attack could be through temptation, lust, marriage problems, a financial
   crisis. You may be saying to yourself, "Here I am trying to serve the
   Lord, doing my best to love Him and be faithful to Him. But things just
   keep getting worse. Is there something wrong with me? Why can't I get out
   of this hole? Why do my problems keep piling up?"
   I urge you to look to your right, to your left, in front of you, behind
   you. Everybody is going through something. Behind the smiles of your dear
   brothers and sisters in Christ are many tears. They are hurting with
    trials you know nothing about.
   No, you are not alone in your suffering and your trial is not some
   strange, unusual circumstance. What you are going through is common to
   multitudes.

Today  As Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples, he said to them,  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my  name, he will give it you" (John 16:23). Then he told them, "Hitherto have  ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (16:24).  What an incredible statement. As this scene took place, Christ was warning his followers that he was going away, and he wouldn't  see them for a short time. Yet, in the very same breath, he assured them they had access to every blessing of heaven. All they had to do was ask in  his name.  The disciples had been personally taught by Jesus to knock,  seek, and ask for the things of God. They were taught firsthand that all  of the blessings of the Father—all grace, power and strength—were found in  Christ. And they'd heard Jesus declare to the multitudes: "Verily, verily,
  I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do   also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my  Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the  Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I   will do it" (John 14:12–14).  Christ's words to his disciples convict me:
  "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24). As I read this,  I hear the Lord whispering to me, "David, you haven't claimed the power I've made available to you. You simply need to ask in my name."  Here is  what I believe grieves God's heart more than all the sins of the flesh  combined. Our Lord is grieved by the ever-growing lack of faith in his  promises…by ever-increasing doubts that he answers prayer…and by a people  who claim less and less of the power that is in Christ.  No matter how  much you have asked of the likeness of Christ, it is nothing compared to   the resources of spiritual wisdom still awaiting in his storehouse. Ask  largely! Ask for wisdom, ask for guidance, ask for revelation. But it must   be asked in faith, nothing doubting.