I read an interesting passage this morning. As I may have mentioned a few times ago, I am working my way through the New Testament book of Acts. I am really taking my time, tying to understand what is going on in this book. I am almost at the end of the book, where Paul finally gets to Rome to please His case before Caesar. But Paul actually has to get to Rome, and he does so via ship…. no planes at this time in history. Canada Post maybe, becasue it took FOREVER for him to arrive, but I digress.
anyway, the passage that jumped out to me was Acts 27. I’ve included the immediate context, where Paul is out at sea and they are in the middle of a “NorEaster”:
13 When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. 14 But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. 15 The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.
16 We sailed along the sheltered side of a small island named Cauda, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind us. 17 Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind.
18 The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. 19 The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard. 20 The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.
21 No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. 22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. 23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, 24 and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. 26 But we will be shipwrecked on an island.” (NLT2)
There is some interesting news, now isn’t it. These sailors had thought they would be safe to travel, so they loaded up and instead of having a save sail, they sailed right into the heart of a storm, where they were blown and tossed and ended up upchucking things— and probably the contents of their stomachs as well—.
what I really jumped out to me was the words that Paul spoke, particularly in verse 25: I know God, but we’re going to be shipwrecked. (the PN version)
Paul was telling the people that although their ship would be destroyed, none of them would die. God would grant each one of them safety, but yet they would still end up in hitting an island somewhere, losing their ship.
sounds like great fun, doesn’t it? “I believe God… But we will be shipwrecked on an island.” (NLT2)
Sometimes that’s how our life will go. We believe in God, but we still hit a wall. When we believe in God we can often times blow right through a wall. When we believe in God and we can still end up in a hospital. We can believe in God and some bad stuff can happen to us.
We can believe in God and good stuff happens to us as well, but we often overlook those things and focus only on the bad stuff… I’m not saying this is right or wrong, I’m just telling how it is.
So, if you are feeling a little bit like Paul’s travelling companions were— feeling like you’re about to be shipwrecked— Hang-on.
Hang on to God. He has not forgotten you. He has not abandoned ship; He is with you each step of the way.
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