Sojourner's Blog

Rough Waters and Deep Seas

[Taken From the Book “KATHRYN KUHLMAN” CHAPTER 2: THE IMPRINTS OF CHILDHOOD]

Things that have happened in any of our lives can be beneficial, if we will surrender to God and commit our lives totally to His use. Because Kathryn “died to self” and rose to serve God, she developed a will that was never broken by her mother’s harsh discipline, a personal integrity that extended to her finances in the ministry, and a dedication to God’s work that brought her into an unusual relationship with the Holy Spirit.

When she was only seventeen, she wrote three wise sentences down in a little red book, apparently some sort of diary or blank notebook. Years later, she picked up that little book and reread those words.

“Great pilots are made in rough waters and deep seas.”

When I closed the book an hour ago, I turned back the pages of my life. Years have come, and years have gone since the day I wrote those words, and I can bear witness to the fact that every word of it I wrote that day is true.


I feel I am the person that I am today because of those deep waters. Not the sunshine in my life, but the storms, the winds, the gales (have polished me). And I’ll say it to you without fear of contradiction. It is true, friend, these things come into your life. It depends on what you’re made of whether you permit them to defeat you or whether you use them for the glory of God.


I can turn back the pages of my life, and there are certain milestones. I can put my finger on them. I know the happenings, I know the crises in my life when I could have put up that white flag of defeat. I could have gone down and been defeated by self-pity.


I wouldn’t be where I am this very hour had it not been for the disappointments, had it not been for the storms, but I made up my mind I wasn’t going to be one of those little birds that run for shelter the first time the winds start to blow.*


*Sermon, “Knowing How To Have Power Over Difficulties