Paul stood in the courts of the
Sanhedrin, falsely accused.
They plotted to kill him and he was
taken away in the night to Caesarea to stand trial before Felix the
governor. Two years later, still being held, Felix was succeeded by
Festus, and Paul stood trial again. Festus, not wanting trouble with
the Jews asked Paul to travel to Jerusalem to be tried. Paul, pressed
back by appealing to Caesar. Since he was a Roman citizen, this
required he be taken to Caesar, in Rome, for trial.
The voyage from Caesarea to Rome is
chronicled in Act. 27,28.
It reads like a novel. What a story.
But it's death-defyingly true and
fascinating at every turn. Paul and God against chains and storms.
The events that transpired on that
voyage could be cliff-noted in this way:
- sailed for Italy... slow headway for many days and had difficulty
- wind did not allow to hold on course
- moved along the coast with difficulty
- much time was lost
- sailing became dangerous (because of winds relative to the time of year)
- Paul warned others, “the voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss”
- the centurion, ship captain, and ship owner did not listen, pressed ahead
- hurricane force wind, “northeaster”, swept down
- ship caught in storm, driven along out of control
- hardly able to make the lifeboat secure
- passed ropes under the ship to hold it together in the storm
- let down the anchor, ship driven along by winds
- threw cargo overboard
- neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, storm continued raging
- gave up all hope of being saved
- many days without food
- Paul admonished those who had ignored his warning but then encouraged them to “keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost, only the ship will be destroyed”
- “nevertheless, we must run aground”
- cut ropes that held lifeboat, let it fall away
- lightened the ship further by throwing all grain into the sea
- cut loose the anchors, left them in the sea, hoisted the foresail, made for the beach
- struck a sandbar, ran aground off shore
- 267 on board, most prisoners, some soldiers
- soldiers planned to kill prisoners to prevent their escape
- the centurion spared Paul's life, kept soldiers from killing prisoners
- finally ashore in Malta (still far from Rome), Paul gathered brushwood to build a fire
- viper crawled from the wood/fire and bit Paul's hand
- Paul shook the snake off into the fire, suffered no ill effects
- 3 months later sailed on another ship for Rome
- 3 days after arrival Paul preaches again (under guard)
- some believed, others did not – they disagreed among themselves and left
- Paul remained in Rome for two more years --- rented a house there --- and welcomed all who came to see him
- “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul was busy obeying what God had
commanded him to do. His transformational moments began on the road
to Damascus when Jesus came to him with a bright light and spoke.
Jesus said to Paul, “I am sending you to them to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to
God...and receive forgiveness...” In those moments everything
changed in Paul's world.
He obeyed.
But Paul's obedience did not shield him
from the ways of the world that had not been changed by the Light of
Jesus.
The words came too harsh, too strong,
too draining.
I was busy obeying what i had been
commanded to do. Love --- care --- hear ---- speak Truth --- pray
---- decrease me, increase Him ---- doing the work of Holy with skin
covered hands...
What the words were, who said the words
--- it's irrelevant. Why? Because the liar is the one who wants
attention in the moments when wrong words go deep and weak knees
crumble under the load of them.
In those moments, the one tossing words
carelessly is only being used by the one who uses and abuses and lies
and deceives. (and afterwards that same liar will drown them in shame
and guilt if he can)
We go down in those dark places.
We wonder ---- why has this come to me?
This is only hindering me from obeying you Lord... why have you
allowed this ravine to be washed out under my feet? We feel like Paul
on the windswept seas...
For some, it's the moment they hear
their daughter say, i'm pregnant... or their son say, i'm in jail...
or the police say, there's been a accident... or their husband say,
i'm not coming home, ever again. Ground gives way and we fall hard in
the moments we hear words like, you're rent is 3 months overdue, you
have 3 days to get out... or i failed my classes but i found
cocaine... or the tests results show there is nothing more we can
do... or bombs have gone off and we're not sure if there are any
survivors...
Life on this rolling sphere is not
designed to be easy.
After all --- we are literally on a
dirt ball suspended in infinite space dangling the perfect distance
from a flaming ball bigger than ours ---- and we have NO CONTROL over
the mystery of the universe that surrounds us.
Most of my footprints have fallen on
peace-filled, cared-for places. Some have not, but most have.
When i was a child sitting in Sunday
School class and we'd read of Paul's perilous voyages and beatings
and imprisonments... i wondered about that man on those pages.
For my experiences had not gone beyond
the quiet farm on Union Hill Road. Our church was our neighbor with
my grandparents between us. My voyages had been on a big yellow
school bus, and while they were challenging, we always made port.
So how could i have understood of the
thoughts of Paul or the reasons he would press ahead through
hurricane winds and raging waters?
Live long enough ------
and the remembrance of Paul's courage
and perseverance will feed in much needed ways when the plate on the
table before us holds unexpected, scary, unfamiliar, strange,
seemingly unhealthy servings.
How beautifully Elisabeth Elliot writes
it when she reflects on Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27:26,
“Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island”. (NIV)
She writes:
“Have you ever put heart and soul
into something, prayed over it, worked at it with a good heart
because you believe it to be what God wanted, and finally seen it
'run aground'?
The story of Paul's voyage as a
prisoner across the Adriatic Sea tells how an angel stood beside him
and told him not to be afraid, for God would spare his life and the
lives of all with him on board ship. Paul cheered his guards and
fellow passengers with that word, but added, 'Nevertheless, we must
run aground...'
It would seem that the God who promises
to spare all hands might have 'done the job right,' save the ship as
well, and spare them the ignominy of having to make it to land on the
flotsam and jetsam that was left. The fact is He did not, nor does He
always spare us.
Heaven is not here, it's There. If we
were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world
rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this
one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we
will certainly find what we so keenly long for.
'Running aground,' then, is not the end
of the world. But it helps to make the world a bit less appealing. It
may even be God's answer to 'Lead us not into temptation' --- the
temptation to complacently settle for visible things.'”
(“Keep a Quiet Heart”©1995
Elisabeth Elliot pg.28)
But it's too easily forgotten isn't it?
We think we are home. We think if we
work hard enough and try and do all the “right” things, then we
can create a heaven all our own around us where we are. It makes
logical sense doesn't it? Work hard, obey, love God, and all will go
well with you and yours... but it's not true, it is a falsely lit
lying torch from the one who works to distort the plans of the One
who loves us most.
We should not try and have Heaven here
---- it's not here ---- it's There.
But while we are here, we should live
and love in ways that allow those who face hell, to actually hold the
invitation of Heaven in their tired, trembling hands.
“Lord, you have assigned me my
portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.” Psalm 16:5
Ahhhhh, peace in the knowing...
Like Paul, we might end up on a ship
that's certain to run aground, but God's still there.
We might hear those most painful words
imaginable or walk in excrutiatingly hard places or face unbearable
moments --- when the winds are too hard and we're trying to hold our
ship together with ropes wrapped round it. But, GOD, the ONE who
loves us most is the same One who has already assigned us our portion
and our cup ---- and HE has already made our lot secure.
My portion, my cup, my lot ----- is
what is in front of me ---- what will be, what will come, what i'm
made for, what i will be strengthened by and sustained with, what
will bring me to my knees, what will come, what will go, what will
remain ------- and the One who made me has already assigned it all
----- and will keep it secure. Not me.
Not my plans.
Not what i think or feel or want.
But it's already been assigned, and
it's already secure in His hands.
Peace... in the surrender... i don't
have to MAKE IT work out ---- He already has.
“Make the most of all that comes
and the least of all that goes.”
--Sara Teasdale (and then often said by
Ruth Bell Graham)