Today at church, we talked about Paul’s journey to Rome in Acts, chapter 27. This was the trip that includes a shipwreck in Malta. Instead of wintering in a harbor considered iffy in inclement weather, the decision to push ahead on to Rome sent the ship and it’s passengers out on to open sea.
Paul did warn them that no good would come of this, but they went anyway and he was right. The winter weather moved right in at the beginning of the voyage. Imagine that 14 days came and went while dark clouds billowed and winds filled their sails one direction, then another. With no control over the ship, it listed this way and that way and careened over the surface of the sea. Finally, they hit the tides where two seas met, and took soundings. In the dark, they knew land was near and so would be rocks. In panic, most of the men were ready to jump overboard, but Paul insisted they stay on board and no life would be lost. The next day, land was sighted and the ship broke up, but everyone made it to the island of Malta safely.
Several folks today gleaned insights of courage:
“Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved,” so said Paul when several sailors lowered a skiff in those dangerous waters. When land was near (and rocks with it), what kind of courage might it have taken to listen to Paul and stay aboard the ship? After all they had been through, they risked waiting.
So you can’t change your situation and your ship is out of control. What can you do? The rudder is broken, the sails are torn and water sloshes over the bow. Trusting God is a risky business sometimes.
You resist the urge to DO SOMETHING and wait. This is where you hang on to the mast, if it’s still there, and wait for God’s deliverance. Praying is a really good option here. You certainly won’t be going anywhere or formulating any plans. But God will.
I pondered on how often I have either run away or taken the steps of courage in the face of opposition. Running away seems the easier thing to do at the time, but it’s harder to live with in the long run. You want to keep hiding. Taking the steps forward in spite of the threat surely makes the mouth dry and the heart palpitate, but once done, you can hold up your head and continue walking.
It takes courage to stand in scary times. It’s a risk. But when we accept that risk and believe that God will cover and see us through to a wise resolution, we reflect His character.
“And so it was that they all escaped safely to land” Acts 27:44b.
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