So What…
…does
that mean for my family?
Cross
Reference Verse: Psalm 119:71, 72
“It was good
for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law
from your mouth is
more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”
…can we do? Gather your family and get
them thinking about skeletons. You
may even want to sing “the foot bone’s connected to the shin bone…”
song. Point out
how all human skeletons are basically the same shape; we all just
have different “skin.” …can we talk about? In the Acts
passage, Paul’s role in the shipwreck reminds me of God’s role in our lives
as we choose to either obey or disobey.
It seems to be an interesting case of same skeleton, different skin. A couple things to keep in mind are
these: Paul is a prisoner, yet he
seems to have a whole lot more opinion and clout than your everyday,
run-of-the-mill prisoner. Secondly,
the ship that they were waiting for in Let’s look at the “skeleton” of what
happened. Paul had warned that this
was probably not the best time to set out on a voyage. He had no seafaring credentials; and
probably having great confidence in the ship, the owner and the helmsman
disregarded his guidance and set sail.
It even seemed they were right—for a little while (v. 13). Before long, however, they knew they
were in trouble. The crew and
passengers went days without eating, working hard to lighten the boat and
keep it together, ultimately giving in to the storm to take them where it
may. Hope was fading away. Paul stood up, and in seemingly calm
words, reminded them that they should have listened to him. There were no “nanny-nanny-boo-boos” or
“I told you so’s”, but a mere statement of
fact. He went on to tell them, based
on a heavenly message, that though the ship would be lost, they all would
survive. The storm raged on. Fear, fatigue, and worry worked their way
back in, and plans for escape were made.
Paul spoke out against the escape, warning that for a few to do so
would mean everyone would be out from under the promise of protection. The skiff was cut loose by the soldiers
and the plan was foiled. Paul
encouraged everyone to eat. It
wasn’t that they had not had any food; they just hadn’t had time to eat
it. This nourishment, he told them
was for their survival (v. 34).
Ultimately they ran the ship aground. The violent waves broke the stern into
pieces, but everyone aboard swam to safety, just as Paul had told them. Think
about your own response to God’s guidance.
At times we obey and avoid the rocks. Other times we obey, and God’s guidance
takes us into the rocks with a promise that He will be there, too. Yet other times we disobey, and it’s a
bit more like the shipwreck scenario.
Same skeleton, different skin. Put yourself in the crew’s place and God
in Paul’s place. How many times do
we hear God’s quiet, seemingly small voice directing us, but we put our
trust in ourselves or our things and decide to disobey? It may even seem like we are right for a
while. Then the storm sets in and we
find that there are real consequences for our choices. God reminds us that we will be okay, but
there will be a loss. Promised
deliverance doesn’t come quite as quickly as we think it should, so again,
we start making our own plans of escape.
God comes back with another warning against stepping out from under
His protection, so we submit (maybe).
We’re experiencing fear, fatigue, and worry. As we begin to lose hope, God comes along
and nourishes us. We sense deep in
our souls that this nourishment is truly for our survival. Eventually, the storm comes to an end,
and we face our consequences. We may
see a bit of ourselves in pieces among the rocks. But we are ok. In fact, we are much better than just
ok. Perhaps we, like the psalmist,
have learned that in God’s warnings is His love. …can we pray for? Let’s pray that God will make us more aware of our
pattern of obedience to Him. Let’s
pray that His guidance will be more precious to us than gold or silver.