Tag Archives: lifeboat

THE BOOK OF ACTS – THE SAFEST PLACE

Christian Life, ,

THE SAFEST PLACE

“Some of the sailors tried to jump ship. They let down the lifeboat, pretending they were going to set out more anchors from the bow. Paul saw through their guise and told the centurion and his soldiers, ‘If these sailors don’t stay with the ship, we’re all going down.’ So the soldiers cut the lines of the lifeboat and let it drift off.

With dawn about to break, Paul called everyone together and proposed breakfast: ‘This is the fourteenth day we’ve gone without food. None of us has felt like eating! But I urge you to eat something now. You’re going to come out of this without even a scratch.'” Acts 27:30-34 (The Message).

Amazing, isn’t it, how there are always the few who want to rock the boat! God’s reassurance, through Paul, that they would all survive this ordeal depended on them all staying together and working together. But there were the few who didn’t care about the others. They were only interested in saving their own skin.

They hatched a plot to launch the lifeboat and try to save themselves but Paul was quick to realise what was up, and took charge. Have you noticed how the authority on the ship changed? In this crisis the captain had done everything he could but nothing was working. Where was he at this stage? Paul took over as the one with the hotline to the throne of God.

First step: Make sure that everyone pulled together. He quickly nipped the splinter group’s plot in the bud. His sixth sense warned him that these men were up to something. By this time the centurion had complete confidence in Paul. He was not the usual sort of prisoner and his word carried authority. The soldiers ditched the lifeboat, cutting off any possibility of escape and forcing everyone to stand together and wait for instructions.

Second step: Breakfast! No one had eaten since the storm began. Fear and the frantic attempts to save the ship had taken their appetites away. Paul knew that they would not survive a swim in the raging sea without the reserves of strength from a good meal. Even the suggestion of food must have put new heart into everyone on board.

“He broke the bread, gave thanks to God, passed it around, and they all ate heartily — two hundred and seventy-six of us, all told! With the meal finished and everyone full, the ship was further lightened by dumping the grain overboard.” Acts 27:35-38 (The Message).

Now they were ready for the next step. By this time the ship was just a shell — cargo, tackle and food gone. There could be no going back. In spite of the fact that their plight was the outcome of foolish decisions and poor judgement, God had not abandoned them. Paul was their lifeline — bringing the hope of salvation from a watery grave if they believed him and heeded his instructions.

How often we land in equally tight corners in life through our own stubbornness and bad decisions. We deserve to be left to find our own way out because we got ourselves into it, but we have a loving Father who is more interested in getting us out than in how we got there in the first place. Every sticky situation is God’s opportunity to reveal His love and His goodness. It’s not about us. It’s about Him.

Jesus showed us how this works. He used every human condition to put His Father’s glory on display. On one occasion He and His disciples met a blind man on the road. Their question to Him was: ‘Whose fault is it that this man was born blind?’ His reply startled them. ‘You’re asking the wrong question. Don’t look for someone to blame. Let’s see what God can do.’

Every crisis is God’s opportunity if we have the right attitude. Paul listened, followed and used his common sense to steer the entire complement of people on board the doomed ship to a safe conclusion. The captain had run out of options but Paul was in touch with a covenant God who promised always to be with him. He is the same God for us as He was for Paul and his companions.

THE BOOK OF ACTS -THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW BETTER!

Bible Study, ,

THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW BETTER!

“We came under the lee of a small island named Cauda, and managed to get a lifeboat ready and reef the sails. But the rocky shoals prevented us from getting close. We only managed to avoid them by throwing out drift anchors. 

“Next day, out to sea and badly damaged by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.

“With our appetite for both food and life long gone, Paul took his place in our midst and said, “Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you there’ll be not a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship — the ship itself is doomed.” Acts 27:16-22 (The Message).

Who are the “we” in this story? No doubt it was “all hands on deck” for everyone on the ship including the centurion and the prisoners. Every pair of hands was necessary to save the ship from being dashed to pieces on the island’s jagged rocks. Once they were past that peril there was no letting up because the ship was in danger of sinking in the violence of the wind and waves.

Everyone worked frantically to lighten the ship. No thought now of saving the cargo! There goes all the money they were supposed to be earning, by the foolish chance the captain took! They stripped the ship to the bare bones in the hopes that they could keep it afloat until they hit land somewhere.

All their values shifted in the peril they were in. It was no longer about business. Now it was about lives. It’s a pity the powers-that-be had not considered that in the first place. But it was too late now — a good lesson learned if they ever survived!

Where was Paul in this spell of furious activity? Stripped to the waist hauling cargo? No, Paul had his own work to do. Somewhere on the ship, out of the way of the toiling men, Paul was praying. His work was just as vital as that of the sailors. It took time and effort to engage with the Father for the lives of the people on board. Paul took nothing for granted. Like Moses centuries before, he stood before the Lord in intercession for men who did not deserve His mercy. They were all in it together and together they would live or die.

Some may have looked upon Paul as a shirker. His hands were needed to get the job done as quickly as possible. Some may have even felt resentful towards him. But Paul turned his face towards the Father and, in the midst of the fury of the storm, he grew quiet inside as he focussed on God. Deliberately shutting out every other sound, he listened for the inner voice that would give him clear instruction for the moment.

Since God is everywhere, he knew that God was there. In his heart there echoed the many promises of His word. “When you pass through the waters I will be with you…” Isaiah 43:3a NIV); “…He will never leave you or forsake you,” Deuteronomy 31:6c (NIV). In his prayer he appealed to the mercy of God, that attribute that was heaviest in Him. Perhaps he recalled how Moses pleaded for the lives of God’s unfaithful people, undeserving as they were, and prayed for the lives of everyone on board.

The Father graciously heard the passionate cries of His child and into Paul’s heart stole the peace that transcends all understanding, the sure confirmation that his prayer had been answered. With confident steps he returned to the toiling men with the reassurance, “No-one will be lost.” Would they believe him this time?

Once again, God was there to thwart the murderous plot of the enemy to sacrifice the entire crew in order to destroy Paul. His overshadowing protection in spite of the danger would prove to all on board that there is no other God and that He is powerful and full of compassion.

The Safest Place

Bible Study, , ,

THE SAFEST PLACE

“Some of the sailors tried to jump ship. They let down the lifeboat, pretending they were going to set out more anchors from the bow. Paul saw through their guise and told the centurion and his soldiers, ‘If these sailors don’t stay with the ship, we’re all going down.’ So the soldiers cut the lines of the lifeboat and let it drift off.

With dawn about to break, Paul called everyone together and proposed breakfast: ‘This is the fourteenth day we’ve gone without food. None of us has felt like eating! But I urge you to eat something now. You’re going to come out of this without even a scratch.'” Acts 27:30-34 (The Message).

Amazing, isn’t it, how there are always the few who want to rock the boat! God’s reassurance, through Paul, that they would all survive this ordeal depended on them all staying together and working together. But there were the few who didn’t care about the others. They were only interested in saving their own skin.

They hatched a plot to launch the lifeboat and try to save themselves but Paul was quick to realise what was up, and took charge. Have you noticed how the authority on the ship changed? In this crisis the captain had done everything he could but nothing was working. Where was he at this stage? Paul took over as the one with the hotline to the throne of God.

First step: Make sure that everyone pulled together. He quickly nipped the splinter group’s plot in the bud. His sixth sense warned him that these men were up to something. By this time the centurion had complete confidence in Paul. He was not the usual sort of prisoner and his word carried authority. The soldiers ditched the lifeboat, cutting off any possibility of escape and forcing everyone to stand together and wait for instructions.

Second step: Breakfast! No one had eaten since the storm began. Fear and the frantic attempts to save the ship had taken their appetites away. Paul knew that they would not survive a swim in the raging sea without the reserves of strength from a good meal. Even the suggestion of food must have put new heart into everyone on board.

“He broke the bread, gave thanks to God, passed it around, and they all ate heartily — two hundred and seventy-six of us, all told! With the meal finished and everyone full, the ship was further lightened by dumping the grain overboard.” Acts 27:35-38 (The Message).

Now they were ready for the next step. By this time the ship was just a shell — cargo, tackle and food gone. There could be no going back. In spite of the fact that their plight was the outcome of foolish decisions and poor judgement, God had not abandoned them. Paul was their lifeline — bringing the hope of salvation from a watery grave if they believed him and heeded his instructions.

How often we land in equally tight corners in life through our own stubbornness and bad decisions. We deserve to be left to find our own way out because we got ourselves into it, but we have a loving Father who is more interested in getting us out than in how we got there in the first place. Every sticky situation is God’s opportunity to reveal His love and His goodness. It’s not about us. It’s about Him.

Jesus showed us how this works. He used every human condition to put His Father’s glory on display. On one occasion He and His disciples met a blind man on the road. Their question to Him was: ‘Whose fault is it that this man was born blind?’ His reply startled them. ‘You’re asking the wrong question. Don’t look for someone to blame. Let’s see what God can do.’

Every crisis is God’s opportunity if we have the right attitude. Paul listened, followed and used his common sense to steer the entire complement of people on board the doomed ship to a safe conclusion. The captain had run out of options but Paul was in touch with a covenant God who promised always to be with him. He is the same God for us as He was for Paul and his companions.