God fulfills his promises.
Do we really believe that? Or do we raise an eyebrow, remembering the times we’ve prayed, and after a time, we felt we didn’t see the answer coming our way.
And it’s true. Sometimes we don’t see the answer we envision. The reason is because it’s the answer we envision. We take our situation, we imagine how God could work it out, and we lay out our plan.
What about God’s plan? Do we think he doesn’t have one? Is he stumbling along, blind in the darkness, and unable to figure out what’s best for us?
Has he become a God of great power, but one who doesn’t know how to wield that power without direction from his creation?
Or is he not there at all?
The Apostle Paul received his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, and he was charged with carrying the message of Christ to all people. Yet, Acts 27 finds Paul a prisoner on a ship being transported across the sea. A storm threatens the safety of the ship, and the crew members wish to kill their prisoners so none will escape.
We know the end of the story, and so we see this as but a milestone on Paul’s path. He’s about to explode on the scene, and the words of Christ will be shared at the very highest levels of Roman government.
We forget that Paul didn’t have our vantage point. He was living in the moment. He’d been given a promise, and it wasn’t coming true. His ship was about to sink, and he was about to die.
Paul was caught up in a storm so big that there was no way out of the disaster. His world was crashing in on him.
Even so, God had Paul’s future planned out. Acts 27:44 tells us:
“And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship…escaped all safe to land.”
We are in Paul’s position. We’ve prayed, we’ve trusted God, and still, the storms surround us. Our ship has broken apart, and we’re on the way down.
Have we forgotten God’s saving hand of grace? Paul could have said, “God, I need a rescue vessel to come alongside and pluck me out of the storm. A nice bed, a good meal, and a fine hotel when we dock will make my rescue perfect.”
Instead, Paul took advantage of what God provided: boards and broken pieces of the ship. It wasn’t the answer Paul probably envisioned, but it was the one God offered. It was through the shipwreck that Paul’s presence initiated a season of healing, first in the home of the Roman overseer on the island, and later spreading to all who came to be healed.
God’s broken board floating at our side is our opportunity for ministry to the needy around us. Let’s grab hold and ride the storm to the end, so that God can use us to further his kingdom on the earth.
God’s answer may not be the one we expect, but it will be exactly what we need to survive the storm.
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Code: FGO.E.26.15.vp.kjv