Monday,
June 21, 2021
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. But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale. 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. 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. The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard. The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone. 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. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, 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.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. But we will be shipwrecked on an island.” Acts 27:13-26
The sailors had both good news and bad from Paul;
they were going to lose the cargo and ship (that wasn’t the good news), but they
were going to live past this storm! For
Paul, he would also survive the day, only to stand trial before Caesar.
The mounting tension in this account was powerful. The sailors tried to outwit the coming storm,
and, when they couldn’t, their only hope was damage control. They tried to minimize loss to the cargo,
the ship, and then, finally they pulled-out every stop just to survive being
shark food. In the midst of the raging storm,
when it was pitching a no-hitter against the ship and its’ occupants, dashing
any hope of success, or even survival, Paul, a prisoner, stands and says: Chill-out, guys; your cargo and ship are
history, but nobody dies today!
For the sailors that wasn’t the best news; it meant
they would go home to their families and the ship’s owners with nothing to show
for months of hard work. But it was still
good news. To live through the storm
meant all hope wasn’t gone. To live
through the storm meant another chance to redeem their losses. To live through the storm was to breathe.
The news for Paul was also of the good and
bad sort. He also was going to
live, but Paul’s chance at tomorrow included standing before Caesar, the madman
despot who had the power to take Paul’s head from his shoulders. But it was also hope, nonetheless; for Paul,
gain for Christ’s coming Kingdom was life.
A few times in my life I’ve faced odds that
seemed too great to last through it. On
the other side of those odds I’m still breathing, and sometimes wonder how in
the world God pulled that off. The greater
wonder (for me) is WHY God pulled that off; I’m no more
deserving than anyone.
The answers to both questions (how and why) have
to do with God’s choices, and no human beings come close to that pay
grade. But the possibilities are just as
real to me as it was to those sailors and Paul.
When God gives you either a second chance, or a brief respite in the
storm, it is time to redeem the time. It
is time to do those things for God’s sake which you’ve put off. It’s not time to sit back and grin over your
narrow escape; it’s time to press on and make it count!
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
No comments:
Post a Comment