“In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.” Acts 27:30-32
You think that you are facing challenges today. How bad would it have to be for you to send your spouse and children to a foreign country to live with friends or relatives for months so they could be physically safe? And while they were safely living there, you stayed in your home and continued to work and do everything possible to avoid the gangs. It’s hard to imagine that kind of challenge in our life. I know several Haitian families that are either now living in Canada or the U.S., living with relatives or friends until the gang violence in Haiti has either subsided or ended.
When you and I experience problems, challenges, or hurts in life, they can either make you better and stronger or more bitter. We really do have a choice. Don’t we? We can either grow up or give up. We can become who God wants us to be, or we can become hard-hearted.
When you go through tough challenges, what happens to you is not nearly as important as what happens in you. On the other side of this world, you’ll take your character with you into eternity and not your circumstances. How you respond to life’s unfair challenges is up to you. Where will you go? What will you do? The Apostle Paul gives us a few responses to challenges in the above verses in Acts 27. He shares with us lessons on how God wants us to respond to challenges.
Paul writes that when some people face challenges, they start drifting through life. They have no goal, purpose or ambition. In today’s dictionary, we would probably call this “coasting.” The problem with coasting is that you only coast when you’re headed downhill. Ever try sledding uphill? Life is not a coast; life is tough. Don’t lose your ambition when life gets challenging.
Paul continues to tell us that the men in charge needed to lighten the load in their sinking ship, so they threw the cargo overboard, followed by the tackle and the food. Because the storm was so overwhelming, they were discarding things they needed. If you have ever have been in a small boat on a large lake and a storm suddenly blew in you know how challenging that can be. When you get in a storm and the stress becomes an unbearable challenge, you may start abandoning values and relationships you would normally hold onto in better times. When facing challenges, what is the first thing you would throw overboard? God tell us, “Stay with the ship!” God uses difficult challenges in life to change people. God wants you to learn, grow, and develop; and He is there with you all the time.
Don’t despair. Paul writes that after 14 days and giving up their cargo, tackle, and food, the passengers finally gave up hope. But they’d forgotten one thing that is the only Hope we cling to; even in a storm, God is in control. He hasn’t left you. You may not feel or see His hand, but if you feel yourself being far from God, guess who moved? It wasn’t Him! God is with you in the storm. No challenge is too big for Him. He will help you through it. And on the other side of the storm, you’ll find that He’s grown your character and deepened your faith. Are you facing a terrible challenge? Be still and ride it out. He has this. He is in control.
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay