Shipwreck or Snakebite?? Which would you choose? As we offer a collective, “Neither!” we hear Paul answer back, “How ‘bout both?”
Safely on shore after surviving a terrible storm, Paul was trying to be helpful when he encountered a serpent. The inhabitants of Shipwreck Island (actually known at Malta) had welcomed the soaked sailors with “unusual kindness” and built a fire because it was raining and cold(Acts 28:2). “Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand”(Acts 28:3).
Immediately everyone thought the worst—Paul would die and he deserved it. “When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live’”(Acts 28:4). The words from their mouths would have been in our minds, but the dangling reptile didn’t faze Paul at all. He simply shook off the snake and kept on ticking. And everyone else kept on waiting and watching, sure that Paul would “swell up or suddenly fall dead”(Acts 28:6). When he didn’t, the islanders changed their minds and declared him deity!
Shipwrecks, snakebites, assumed justice, and miraculous “just fine.” This crazy story should do more than make us chuckle and shake our heads; it should strengthen our hearts—especially if we’re the ones still dripping with sea water and already feeling the fangs. Troubles sometimes come on top of each other, and just when we think we’re safe, we’re slammed again. We can’t always do as Paul did and just shake it off and feel no ill effects(Acts 28:5), but we can be certain that as we trust God and rely on His strength, those who are watching and waiting to see what will happen won’t be able to miss His divine and miraculous power in our lives.
Don’t live in fear of shipwrecks or snakes. Or both.
They are simply parts of the journey where God shows His power.
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