Samuel Rodriguez - The Storm Does Not Define You, It Reveals Who You Really Are
Please, one more time, tell your neighbor, "I'm on my way to Rome". Tell your other neighbor, the one that's ignoring you, "I'm on my way to Rome". Number two, quickly. The anointing for the storm. You're either storm driven, or destiny driven. The storm does not define you, the storm reveals who you really are. So, I wish I could illustrate this and make it into a Netflix series because it's so cool. Here's Paul, he's on his way to Rome because acts 23:11, God said, "That's your assignment, sunshine". Okay. But didn't give him the specificities. So, he's going as a prisoner, but he's headed to Rome. I mean, he's gon' fulfill the assignment.
It doesn't look good, so, he's on his way. He's on his way, he's on his way. He's on this prison ship. All of a sudden, a nor'Easter. A storm hits. Takes the boat apart. He goes to the... The Bible says, and I'm gonna read it. Verses 15 and 17. "They were caught by the storm, so they gave way to it to be driven along by the winds and the storm". Acts 27:17, "They preferred to be driven by the storm, and as a result," verse 18, "They were violently battered". Here it is, they preferred to be driven by the winds and the storm. What drives you? Christianity is less about what we drive and more about what drives us. We are all driven people. We are either driven by the past or the future, by the pathetic or the prophetic, by problems or promises, by nightmares or dreams, by the flesh or the spirit, by Google searches or godly searches. We are either driven by drama or by destiny.
What drives you? Are you driven by the praise of others, or are you driven by the criticism of others? Here it is, as it pertains to the others, as it pertains to their opinions of who we are. If their praise did not make you, their criticism cannot break you. Don't ever let your problem drive you, your storm drive you. We have too many Christians that are more driven by drama than by destiny. We have too many Christians that spend more time reacting to what comes from hell rather than what comes from heaven. We have too many believers, oh, help us, Lord. Driven by the winds of wokeism, cancel culture, driven by ideologies and social constructs that are counter intuitive to the word and Spirit of God.
Too many Christians driven by opinions and feelings instead of being driven by truth and love. Driven by what people say about you rather than what God already did for you. Driven by past mistakes. No, no, no. In Christ, Galatians 5:16, "Be driven by the spirit, not by the flesh". Oh, you gon' get this in a second. Romans 8:14, "For all who are driven by the Spirit of God are sons of God". I'mma speak prophetically right now. We're about to see a church rise up in South Africa, in Africa, and around the world. No longer driven by CNN or the BBC, no longer driven by media, no longer driven by popular opinion, no longer driven by political operatives, no longer driven by social media influencers, no longer driven by the current trend of the day.
We're about to see a church rise up driven by the father, driven by the son, and driven by the Holy Spirit. And this church is gonna stand up and is gonna look at the winds, and it's gonna be, oh, help us, Lord. This church is gonna look at every devil, demon, legion, principality coming after our children and our children's children, coming after, there is a war, there is an attempt from hell. The Krakens have been released upon the next generation. We need a church that has enough courage to stand up... And look to every lie of the devil and say, "In the name of Jesus, get your hands off our children".
Get your hands off our children. Are there any believers in the house here today who... Driven, driven, driven, driven. Driven people. Driven, driven, driven. Raise your right hand. From this moment on, you and your house will be driven by the precious glory of the risen Christ and as a result, your destiny will be greater than your drama. Your promise will silence the problem. Your miracle will redeem the mistake. Your dream will put an end to the nightmare. And your blessing will overtake the brokenness. If you believe it, shout, "I'm on my way to Rome. I'm on my way to Rome".
Now, watch this, watch this. So, they were on the boat, they were on the boat and all of a sudden, this is a crazy story. They're on the boat and the wind comes, and the wind, and the battering, and the storm. And it looks like they're dancing the macarena, but it was a storm. And it's everything. Now, I love this. And then God speaks to Paul. They're in the middle of a storm and the ship is being battered like a cheap pinata. And all of a sudden, God gives them the craziest word you can get, "Paul," here it is, "Paul". What a word. Like, imagine this word. Heaven comes down and the Revelation of heaven is "Paul, the ship that you're in right now," like, you want to hear the word, "Paul, the ship," everything. This is God, this is the word from him. "Paul, you see that ship that you're in and the storm and all that? The ship is not gonna make it".
Who does that? You're in the middle of the sea, there's a storm, a nor'Easter, a diffracto hurricane, and God's word is, "Let me encourage you, son, that ship is not gon' make it, but you are". I feel the Holy Ghost right about now. Some of you lost your ship, but here you are. Some of you lost that job, but here you are. Some of you lost that relationship, but here you are. Because God's purpose will not be denied! If you lost something in your life, if you've lost a ship, something you depended on, raise one hand. If you've lost multiple ships, raise both hands. If you lost so many, you have a collection of lost ships, raise both hands and a foot. And yet, here you are. I said, here you are. Here you are. You're still praising. You're still worshiping. You're still believing. Even without that ship.
"I consider everything a loss because the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus". Philippians 3:8. "Hey, Paul? Paul? Pablito? Pablito"? Look at the word. Can you please do your biblical due diligence? Make sure I'm not making this up. "The ship, not gon' make it, you are. Oh, by the way, here's the other promise". This is so crazy. This is why I don't worry about my children and my children's children, or my children's children's children. You want to hear the other promise? "The ship won't make it, you will, and by the way, everyone in your ship will make it too".
I need you to get ready. Your children and your children's children, and your children's children's children will make it in the name of Jesus! Somebody praise like you know it. Somebody worship like you know it. As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. "Believe in the Lord, Jesus". Acts 16:31, "And you and your household will be saved". If you believe that everyone in your ship will make it, raise one hand. If you really believe it, raise both hands. "I've given you the lives of all who sailed with you, and they will make it". I'm just reading. Our horizontal relationships have vertical consequences. And our vertical relationships has horizontal consequences.
You don't need to worry about your children and your children's children, as you just pass the legacy of faith, as you pursue righteousness. Everyone in your ship will make it. Here it is. Because when, I stated this before and I'mma say it again. When your integrity is more important than your influence, nothing can stop you. Repeat that for the hearing impaired. When your integrity is more important than your influence, nothing can stop you. When you are driven by the anointing rather than ambition, nothing can stop you. When your hunger for righteousness is greater than your fear of criticism, nothing can stop you. And when your praise is louder than your pain... South Africa, when your praise is louder than your pain, when your praise is louder than your pain, nothing can stop you.
Are there any unstoppable people on their way to Rome? Repeat after me. "Everyone in my ship will make it. Everyone in my ship will make it". Little side note, using this biblical narrative. God has given you the lives of those that sail with you. Remember that. Final point for today. The anointing to let go of plan B. In God, there is no plan B. So, watch this. He gets the word. Here's Paul. They're in the love boat, I mean, the ship. "Paul, the ship won't make it, you will, everyone else here, because you're here, they're gonna make it too". So, Paul gets his word. "Hey guys, good news, bad news. See this ship? Not gonna make it. You see us? We gon' make it".
So, a couple of guys, read it, a couple of guys get the lifeboats, and they're hearing the speech going like, "Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah". And they start lowering the lifeboats. Read it. Like, "I'm out. You take your word from heaven, an angel, God, prophetic, whatever it is, I'm going. I'm out". Paul sees it and says, "Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're doing this together". Paul says, "There is no plan B here. Let the," quote unquote, "Let the lifeboats drift away. Cut 'em off". In other words, "We're either gonna believe God for everything he promised".
Some of you need to let go of the lifeboats. You need to let the lifeboats drift away. You gotta cut that plan B. Some of you say, "God, I love you". But you still have a lifeboat. Let the lifeboats drift away. Trust God! Trust God. Plan B. What is plan B? Oh boy. Plan B. I'm gonna... where's Jason? Jason, come up here real quick, please. We gotta let go. Jason is my travel assistant. For those who have any context, he's an American warrior whose name, for the glory of God, appears in three museums. Fought in Afghanistan. Fought in Iraq. And he fought so I can continue to preach the gospel freely in America without any hesitation or reservation. And I love, this is what you get when you love Jesus, you're full of the Holy Spirit, and you use steroids.
Okay, real quick, real fast... Creatine, creatine, creatine, creatine. It's creatine. Plan B. He told them, "Let go. Let go". I want to remind you, the power to let go is equally as important as the power to hold on. And the will to hold on and the power to be still, are as important as the will to let go and the power to move forward. And you will never reach your Rome, your prophetic designation, until you let go of your lifeboat, your plan B. I'm gonna get in trouble now. In America, I'm speaking American context, maybe not here in South Africa, many churches have engaged in plan B. Plan B Christianity is the kind of Christianity that surrenders to the culture for the purpose of maintaining the status quo. Not ruffling up the features.
It's for the purpose of making sure that we have followers and the likes of like, like, like, like, like, like, like. And because of that, it's plan B Christianity. We're never gonna reach Rome, Rome means your prophetic assignment, until we let go of the lifeboats. We have to trust God. Let me show you something. This is a book I wrote during COVID called "Persevere with power". God really blessed it and, hold on, hold on to this. Let me show you some stuff here. Here's, you know, some stuff here. I'll give you, "Holy trouble". There goes that. "Spiritual showdown. Late starts finish first". Yep, good luck with that. "Carefree and careful". Beautiful.
This book is now discounted tonight. It's discounted. I just ripped pages from a book. And God helped me, inspired me, filled me, I wrote it, God blessed it all, he did it. He blessed it and he made it into a best seller thing. We were on good morning America, and the book came out. So, God, that's all him, I get that. But I'mma be honest. I'mma be very, really weird. This is the worse way of selling books. Me ripping pages from my book will do very little to push back on everything the enemy has launched against our Christian faith, against truth, and love, and righteousness.
Watch, I need a Bible. A old school Bible. Okay, let's do it. What I did there, I'm gonna do with the Bible here. And, because, I might as well. If there are chapters that we don't preach because they are so politically incorrect. If there are biblical passages that, the majority of pastors in America, unfortunately, ignore chapters because they cause trouble. Because they're afraid of being deplatformed.
So, at the count of three, shout, and I'm gonna rip some pages. Ready? Are you saying, "No"? Then why do we live like some of the pages are missing? And why do we preach like some of the pages are missing? South Africa, if you want this nation to be saved, preach the whole word and nothing but the word, so, help us God. Preach the word in and out of season. If you believe we are about to see an awakening of the gospel, where not one page will be missing, now give God your best shout of praise.
Stand with me... you are standing. Raise both hands and say, "I'm on my way to Rome. I'm on my way to Rome". Tomorrow morning, I'm gonna finish this story by telling you what happens in the Island of Malta and show you that Revelation. But right now, I want you to hear me carefully. We have an assignment. That assignment has implications that are multi-generationally specific. The faith of our generation will determine the faith of the next. I'm gonna repeat that one more time. The faith of our generation will determine the faith of the next generation.
Lift up your hands. Look up here as you lift up your hands. This is what happened. You're looking at it. The ship fell apart and they got to the island. If you couldn't swim, the Bible says they got to the Island of Malta holding on to broken pieces of wood. I want you to hear me, and I sense the Spirit of God. God does great things with broken pieces. With both hands raised. Verse 44, "The rest were there on planks, on pieces, broken pieces of the ship".
God does great things with broken pieces. This is for you. A broken praise is still a praise. Broken worship is still worship. The purpose of God is greater than the brokenness of man. "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we're not destroyed," 2 Corinthians 4. With your hands raised. If it's broken, God can fix it. If it's empty, God can fill it. If it failed, God can restore it. If it's sin, God can forgive it. If it's crooked, God can make it straight. If it failed, God can pick it up. If it's paralyzed, God can make it move. And if it died, God can resurrect it.
If that's you, and if you're saying, "Pastor Sam, I heard the Holy Spirit today". If that's you, if you're saying, "I know I have a Rome assignment". There's an assignment for your life that cannot and will not be denied. You may have lost your ship. You may have been through your storm, but here you are. Not only will you make it, everyone in your ship will make it. And if things fell apart, God does great things with broken pieces.
So, if that's you right now, I'm gonna count to three. Let me explain what I want. If you're saying, "There are things broken in my life. There are ships that I lost in my life, many". And this message activated the anointing. There's an anointing that is born out of adversity that enables you to change you world. And that's why you've been through what you been through because you're on your way to Rome. So, if that's you, if you haven't been through anything, don't worry about it. But if you're broken, if you lost a ship and you're saying, "Today I receive this anointing. As for me and my house, we will make it, and we will shine with the glory of Jesus like never before".
If that's you, at count of three, come out of your seat and join me real quick. One, two, three, come up right now. If you're in this place, if you a have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Yes, I'm telling you, you have a Rome. There's a purpose for your life. There's purpose for your life. There's purpose for your life. Get out of your seat right now. I don't care how broken you may be. I don't care how many ships you lost. Come hell or high water, you are on your way to Rome.