Good Morning Friends,
Paul was given into the hands of a Roman
centurion in order to be transported to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. The
trip turned out to be more eventful and dangerous than they had planned. The
safe travel time of the year was quickly coming to an end and storms were beginning
to sweep across the Mediterranean Sea. At one point, Paul warned them to delay
the trip, spending the winter in port.
“‘Men, I can see that our voyage is going to
be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives
also.’ The centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice
of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.” (Acts 27:10-11)
Paul’s advice was good advice, but it was
ignored. The pilot and owner of the ship made a bad decision to continue the
journey and the centurion made a bad decision to go with them instead of
waiting till spring and catching another ship to Rome.
God does allow people to make bad decisions! God
provided direction, but it was ignored. But as the story continues, even though
they made a bad decision, God did not abandon them. When a life-threatening
storm hit, God spoke again with words of encouragement and comfort.
“After the men had gone a long time without
food, Paul stood up before them and said:
‘Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you
would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep
up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be
destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood
beside me and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before
Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” So
keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as
he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.’” (Acts 27:21-26)
I know there are times when I fail to
recognize God’s direction and make bad decisions. There are other times when I
stubbornly choose my own way, even though I know God’s direction is different. It
gives me great encouragement to know that God doesn’t abandon me when I make wrong
decisions. There may be painful consequences to those choices, but God is still
with me.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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