Tuesday Reading: Acts 27:21-25
Key Verse: Acts 27:25
25 Therefore, men, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it will be so, according to the way it was told me.
Devotion:
How many times have you been discouraged because things have not gone your way? How many times have you thought that something must be wrong because nothing seems to be going your way? I’m pretty sure that we have all been there at some stage in our lives but when we are able to look back at the times when we have had these problems we can see the good that has come out of them – it’s just that when we are in those times we see no good because of the calamity that surrounds us!
Paul was in a ship that was in real danger because of the tremendous storm through which they seem to be drawn. The men were in mild panic because they had no real control over what was happening and then Paul has a vision which he firmly believes. He could have looked at the vision and then at what was happening around him and followed the fear of all the others on the ship, but instead he stood his ground with faith. Too many times in our lives we allow the worldly things around us to detract us from our faith in Christ and we think that there is no more hope. God is the one who is in control and He alone has the power to dictate His own ways.
We are the ones that feel that He is not with us sometimes and there are other times when we may not like His method of doing things but we must remember that He is in control! I’m sure that none of the sailors on that ship with Paul felt very safe at all, but Paul knew that God would come through with His promise and he knew that all lives would be saved – even if they had to be thrown out of the ship and flounder in the sea! God does protect is ways we don’t always see!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get worried that things are not going according to plan?
Are you trying to live your plan or God’s plan?
