In the Eye of the Storm
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler
DAY BY DAY
“Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best--lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.“Help me then in every tribulation, so to trust Thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faith’s sweet consolation, offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e’er to take, as from a father’s hand, one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till I reach [my heavenly home].”
Most of our great hymns of the faith were borne out of adversity.
Like the gentle mourning dove that coos, they convey a message in song
that streams forth from a broken heart that has found consolation in our
Heavenly Father. The hymn, Day by Day, written by Lina
Sandell, is a classic example. When Lina was a little girl she recalled
how she rarely spent time with other children her age. Rather, she
enjoyed sitting in her father’s study talking about the things of the
Lord. Her father was the well-known and beloved pastor of a parish
located in Froderyd, Sweden.
As
the flames of revival swept across Scandinavia, Lina, now 26,
accompanied her father on a speaking engagement at Gothenburg. For some
unknown reason, the ship upon which they were traveling lurched to one
side, tragically throwing her father overboard. He drowned before her
very eyes. You may want to read her words again in light of her loss.
The Apostle Paul would have suffered the same fate, but for the
providence of God. Such times have a way of showing us our true character.
PAUL THE TRAVELER
“And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band.” --Acts 27:1
The
Lord had commissioned Paul to go far hence unto the Gentiles, but
Paul’s heart’s desire was that Israel might be saved. It seems that he
never forgave himself for persecuting the church and laying it waste. He
thought within himself if he could simply return again to Jerusalem he
could reach his countrymen for Christ. But the Lord had forewarned him
that they would not receive his testimony concerning Him. Nevertheless,
the apostle disobeyed the will of the Lord believing he could reach them
for Christ if given another opportunity (Acts 21:4-14; 22:18-21 cf.
Rom. 10:1).
Since God never imposes His will upon ours, He allowed
Paul to return to Jerusalem, but it was with catastrophic results. God
interrupted the ill-advised plan of James and Paul’s cooperation in it.
We believe, had not the Lord intervened, the apostle would have
lost his life at the hands of his countrymen (Acts 21:17-36). The
lesson here is clear: disobedience has consequences!
Here’s a contemporary example to illustrate our point. The Scriptures are clear that the believer is not to be unequally yoked
with the unbeliever, whether in business partnerships or marriage (II
Cor. 6:14,15). But it is not uncommon to see an attractive young
Christian girl engaged to a young man who looks and smells like he just
fell off the turnip truck. In addition to being unsaved, he wouldn’t
know what responsibility was if it were staring him in the face, having
never worked a day in his life. You begin to wonder what this girl is
thinking! But there is rhyme and reason behind her thought process,
though misguided.
You see, the woman instinctively wants to nurture,
so she firmly believes that she will be able to mold this young fellow
into a well-groomed, responsible, church-going man who will eventually
trust Christ. But there is one major problem: she will have to disobey
God’s will to accomplish her purpose, a decision she is sure to regret.
Nine times out of ten this type of marriage relationship ends in
heartache and divorce.
While
some tend to place Paul on a pedestal, he was not beyond stepping out
of the will of God. He was a man of like passions as we--he, too, had
feet of clay! Consequently, this one act of disobedience cost him
dearly. He was imprisoned for two years as a result. These were lost
years for the most part, years he could have more effectively
ministered among the Gentiles. But thankfully God uses us in spite of
our shortcomings and failures. Shortly after Paul was imprisoned, the
Lord appeared to the apostle so he wouldn’t languish in despair.
“And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11).
“Be of good cheer.” Imperative mood: the Lord commands Paul
to be courageous and confident, for the hand of God was still upon his
ministry. Although the apostle had testified of the Lord under the
auspices of the permissive will of God at Jerusalem, it remained the
directive will of God for him to continue his ministry among the
Gentiles. Hence, “so must thou bear witness also at Rome,” at Rome’s
expense mind you. There are times that God uses the unbeliever to
accomplish His purpose, as demonstrated here. Interestingly, Paul is
never said to be a prisoner of Rome, but rather a prisoner of Jesus
Christ (Eph. 3:1). The Lord makes Paul His prisoner at this point in
time and sends him to Rome, a Gentile city far from Jerusalem.
Having
been bound over for trial at Rome, Paul is placed on a ship in the
custody of a Roman centurion named Julius. There is good reason to
believe that they may have known one another prior to the voyage. One
thing we know for sure, Julius did not believe the apostle was a flight
risk, since he allowed Paul the liberty to visit with the brethren at
various stops along the journey.
As
the voyage progressed they first experienced contrary winds, then an
unsettling calm as they sailed under Crete. Thankful to have arrived at
Fair Havens, the Captain and crew made arrangements to sail to the
northwest side of the island to Phenice, which is a haven of Crete,
where they planned to winter. But it was already late fall, when sailing
on the Mediterranean could be hazardous. Thus, Paul, who was a seasoned
traveler, stepped forward to advise against such a plan.
“Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading [cargo] and ship, but also of our lives” (Acts 27:10).
Of
course the Captain and the owner probably surmised that Paul was merely
a prisoner who was in no rush to get to his own execution. More
importantly, there was wine, women and song at the next stop,
commodities the world craves. But the apostle was speaking from
experience, not selfishness. He had already suffered three shipwrecks
and spent a night and a day in the sea; therefore, he was well aware of
the grave dangers (II Cor. 11:25).
Here we see something of the character
of Paul, which can be very helpful in our Christian experience. What
was true of him should be true of us as well. This is what he means when
he says to the Corinthians, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am
of Christ” (I Cor. 11:1). You see, Paul is more than merely the pattern
of the longsuffering of God in salvation, he is also God’s pattern of
how to walk well pleasing unto the Lord.
THE CHARACTER OF PAUL
The apostle became the central figure on the voyage from this point forward. Paul was a man of conviction
who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Morally, he had no trouble, as
some do today, distinguishing between right and wrong in both spiritual
and physical matters. When he stood before the Sanhedrin and was falsely
accused of sedition and insurrection, he responded: “And herein do I
exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God,
and toward men” (Acts 24:16). In other words, he did what was right! He
knew the charges against him had no merit whatsoever.
A
young pastor approached a senior minister of the gospel with a serious
concern. He shared with his elder friend how some of the brethren were
spreading malicious lies about him. The venerable old pastor asked, “Son
is any of it true?” “No sir! Not a word of it.” “Then don’t worry about
it! Their sin will find them out soon enough. The important thing is
that you have a clear conscience about the matter.”
Looking
over the circumstances he now found himself in, Paul perceived it would
be wrong to set sail and continue the journey, not merely because of
the time of the year; he also sensed they had an ulterior motive. The
Captain and crew wanted to continue the voyage to the next Port of Call
so they could winter there in sin. In both of the foregoing cases, the
apostle stood his ground in the face of opposition. We, too, must always
stand up for what is right, whether it is wrongdoing in the local assembly, or in defense of Paul’s apostleship and message. The key word here is conviction.
As
you read the record, once Julius agreed with the Captain to resume the
journey, Paul didn’t press the matter. This is an indication that the
apostle was a man of extraordinary tact. Webster’s defines
“tact” accordingly: “a keen sense of what to do or say in order to
maintain good relations with others or avoid offense.” Those who demand
to be heard and refuse to leave an issue rest only serve to erode their
credibility in the eyes of others. Oftentimes it is merely a matter of pride to have their way.
It
has been said, “Tact is the art of making a point without making an
enemy.” For “a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city”
(Prov. 18:19). Thus, Paul was careful never to be offensive for the sake
of offense. It was his desire to keep the lines of communication
open with those he engaged. This earned the apostle a level of respect
and gave him a hearing on weightier issues, even though the response may
not have always been favorable. When these principles are violated it
only serves to alienate the hearer.
We’ve
all encountered those who have had such a bad experience with the
gospel that they won’t even give you the time of day when you endeavor
to share it with them. The lesson here is this, we should faithfully
share the gospel, but we should never attempt to badger someone into
believing it, although some have done their level best to do so. Once we
have put the unbeliever into a defensive posture he will be less
receptive the next time someone has an opportunity to share Christ with
him.
Another
area in which we must be cautious is not to be overbearing when sharing
Paul’s gospel. Don’t be like the car salesman who takes your keys and
won’t return them until you agree to purchase a new car. Personally, I
never return to these types of dealerships. It is incumbent upon us to
speak the truth in love. Simply give the brethren a clear, concise presentation of the Word, rightly divided, without insulting their understanding of the Scriptures.
I
usually share two passages that appear to contradict one another in the
Scriptures, which they have probably wondered about themselves. If I
sense they are sincerely interested, I give them some literature that
they can read in the privacy of their own home without feeling
threatened or intimidated. The key word here is tact.
As
we continue the narrative, just when the crew thought they had
accomplished their purpose, a storm loomed on the horizon. Not just any
tempest mind you, but one that strikes fear into the heart of any
sailor, a northeaster! This type of a storm produces gale force winds that can easily capsize a ship.
“And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive….And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away” (Acts 27:15,20).
If
you study the record carefully it is obvious that this was an
impressive ship capable of carrying 276 souls, cargo, and tackling. Be
that as it may, that old ship was up one side of the waves and down the
other as the crew encountered the perfect storm. It was all they could
do to pull the skiff to safety when the ship started to take on water.
They used “helps” to literally tie the vessel together to keep it
seaworthy. With the waves sweeping over the bow and the helps unable to
keep the water out, it became necessary to lighten the ship, which was
accomplished by throwing the cargo overboard, followed by the tackling.
When the sun and stars failed to appear for days, the crew lost their
bearings and along with it any hope of surviving the ordeal.
“But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship” (Acts 27:21,22).
As
all on board faced what appeared to be the inevitable, Paul stepped
forward. The man who walks with God is never affected by circumstances;
he rests in the sovereignty of God, that He is working all things out
after the counsel of His own will. In this case the Lord intervened to
reassure Paul that he would appear before Caesar and all those with him
would be spared.
Even
though the apostle shared this news with the crew, some on board
decided to take things into their own hands and abandon the ship. They
attempted to lower the skiff into the sea under the guise that they were
lowering the anchors. Here the apostle exercised sound judgment.
Rather than alert the other crew members which might well have resulted
in a riot, Paul informed the centurion and the soldiers as to the
intention of these seamen. He knew soldiers were men of action. Time was
of the essence! Once Paul informed Julius that they could not be saved
if these men abandoned ship, the soldiers responded immediately and cut
the ropes. This shows us that Julius held the word of Paul in high
esteem, especially after his warning came true. It would not surprise us
to see Julius in glory some day.
Paul
also demonstrated good judgment by encouraging the men to eat after
fasting fourteen days. Even the hardiest of men would be weak after such
an ordeal. He knew they were going to need every ounce of strength they
could muster to swim to shore, if need be. Therefore, after he gave thanks
to God, he took some bread and broke it and ate in the presence of them
all. This scene has been called “The meal in the storm.”
In
times of crisis, it is the spiritually-minded man who maintains his
composure, as we see here with Paul. The storm may rage around him, some
may even abandon him, but his confidence is in the Lord, who is a
present help in time of need. Like Paul, we, too, must be objective in
the Lord’s service. Unfortunately we’ve all endured those times in the
local church when the tension was so intense you could cut it with a
knife. But while others may lose their composure, and say things they
will probably regret later, let us be of the number who honor and
glorify the Lord in our actions and manner of speech. The key words here
are sound judgment.
Had
those in authority initially heeded the counsel of Paul they would have
avoided the perils of the sea, which can be unforgiving. The same is
true today, spiritually speaking. Sadly, the reason the faith of some
has suffered shipwreck is due to their rejection of Paul’s apostleship
and message.
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Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
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