Fan the Flame - a Journey Through Actsഉദാഹരണം

Day 46 - A Storm at Sea

Life is stormy – for Christians too. I often tell people, “If you were told when you became a Christian that all your problems would be over, you should ask for your money back!” No, life in this broken world is no bed of roses; not even the Christian life. But the storms often provide opportunities for faithful Christ-following that would never arise in the good times.

Having appealed his case to the emperor, Paul sailed under arrest to Rome. But on the way, the ship was caught in a violent storm that lasted for two whole weeks and ended in a shipwreck. You will have noticed by now that Paul is not the person to let an opportunity to share his faith go to waste – in 27:21-26 and again in 27:33-36 he turns the thoughts of his fellow sailors to God, even leading them in a prayer of thanksgiving to God before getting them (at last!) to take some food. It’s none other than Paul who says in 2 Timothy 4:2, “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable.” (One paraphrase renders this: “Take opportunities; make opportunities.”) And what better time to encourage people to think about God than in a storm! People get real in storms. What we never think about in calm weather suddenly becomes important and urgent in the storms of life.

Are you keeping your eyes and ears open for the opportunities that come to share the love of God and your faith with people doing it tough? Here’s a prayer you might like to pray: Lord, please help me not to ignore the openings for the gospel that are offered by the storms of life. Even more, help me not to pretend that the storms aren’t real, or to condemn those going through them. But help me to be a source of hope and healing as I carry the good news of Jesus with me, yes, even into the storms.

Written by D Morcom