The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Wednesday
September 10, 2008
The terrible storm raged unabated 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 Fair Havens. You would have avoided all
this injury 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 27:20-26
Our television networks have great advantages during a storm watch. They can warn us which direction the storm is coming from and going to in order for us to seek shelter, but we must have the television on to receive instructions. Such is life with the Holy Spirit. We must be listening to Him in order to understand the storms that come into our life. Many times He tells us and we pass the information on to others, but they fail to listen to us. Such was the case with Paul.
Paul warned these people that they needed to linger in Fair Havens until the storm passed, but these people leaned on their own understanding of the matter and sailed for what they thought would be a more safe outlet. They were wrong and Paul was right. Even though Paul knew what was ahead he had to suffer the consequences of their wrong choices. Can you relate?
I don't know about you, but this is encouraging to me. We may suffer a shipwreck in our lives or even in our ministry, but that doesn't mean we will not reach out destination. God has a plan. He is in control. He wants us to reach His Holy Mountain!
It hit me this morning as I was reading about Moses going up to meet with God. He was there seven days before God showed up. Does that make you want to shake your head at yourself for losing hope when God doesn't show up in your quiet time occasionally? God wants us to actively wait and listen for Him. If He doesn't show up when we expect Him to we are to wait on Him and allow Him to lift us up on those eagle wings and then we will ascend to His Holy Mountain, even though it may be after a shipwreck!
A song comes:
"'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at
His Word,
just to rest upon the promise, just to know thus sayeth the Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus,
Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more!"
Father, we thank You this morning for Your Word! We praise You for helping us keep our eyes on You even in the midst of a shipwreck. Thank You for showing up in Your time and not in my time. Through these times of drought You have taught me to praise You through the problems and as a result my faith in You has multiplied. Bless those who are in shipwreck situations right now Lord. Restore the joy of their salvation and rekindle the fire of Your love. Give them peace in the midst of the storm!
Well, this ends our study of Acts. Hope you enjoyed it! I don't want to leave
you hanging…Paul did arrive in Rome.
For the next two years, Paul lived
in his own rented house. He welcomed all who visited him proclaiming the Kingdom
of God with all boldness and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one
tried to stop him. Acts 28:30
