Sunday Guest Post by Alicia

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Acts 27

Sermon by John Mark Wiemann on Acts 27

Paul advised the men not to rush into this voyage. They did not heed his advice but started out anyway.
It's amazing how God uses times in our lives when we don't do the wise thing and yet on the other end of our mistake he has a great growth lesson for us.
I have a close friend who just had this happen to her. Her husband made a decision to be untruthful on some application information. The benefit in his mind was a better chance at getting what they wanted. It backfired and his untruth was discovered by the provider. She had no idea this had happened till he told her after words. He is the type who is tough to tell what to do or even respond humbly when things go wrong for him. Yet, God softened his heart and led her to talk to him about trusting God and his sovereignty instead of rushing, sinning, or pushing to get what they need. She would never have had that opportunity had this not happened. He is a baby Christian so this was a huge growth time for him.

As I read acts 27 I started to see the ship itself as a symbol of faith. Paul says that the men are not to get off of it and try to save themselves. Sometimes in moments of fret we are tempted to work to make something happen. We think the opportunity will pass us up and we won't have a chance again. The ship of faith so to speak is staying in the hand of God and trusting his promise to provide and safely carry us to the end. The trials and storms may rage around us, we may feel tempted to save ourselves, we may even regret decisions that got us to the place we are but the ship of faith in God requires one thing and that is to stay on board.
We may even look around us and see the boards falling off, the sails ripping, and the provisions floating away from us. The ship of faith is not held together by what we see, but by the power of the promises of God.
Hebrews 11:1
For faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.



is Tomorrow's passage:
Acts 281-31; Ephesians 1-2:22