When Your Ship Sinks
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Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.
Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,
and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.
But we must run aground on some island.”
Years ago, I had the opportunity to spend one week on a cruise ship.
They had a swimming pool, indoor gym, shops, a stage with live shows, and a movie theater.
All the meals are paid for when you buy your ticket, and the menu was amazing!
I had gourmet meals every night.
The ship stopped a several interesting places where you could spend the day shopping or touring.
While I was on that ship, one night my friends and I looked out at the ocean and thought about how that boat, with about 1000 people on board, was still so tiny compared to the ocean.
What if that boat sank?
Would there be any sign there that we ever existed?
A month after my cruise holiday, I heard on the news that the ship I had ridden had an accident. The engines caught fire. The ship almost sank.
Each of us is on a boat sailing across the sea of our lives.
We wish our boat could be one of those cruise ships.
There are fun activities all day.
Delicious food everywhere that is already paid for.
Go and visit beautiful and interesting places.
There are those happy times in our lives that we might compare to a pleasure cruise.
But a pleasure cruise does not last forever.
There are times when we must face the storms.
Storms at sea are very destructive and dangerous.
The high winds.
Lightning.
The water that has been carrying us now becomes waves that would destroy us.
In our lives we all have difficult times.
Times when disaster happens.
Times when difficult choices must be made.
Times when we wrestle strongly with temptation.
When we think about the ship of our life caught in the stormy sea, our first reaction is usually to think about the story in Mark 4:35-41.
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Such a wonderful story that demonstrates God’s immense power to instantly calm the fiercest storm!
We pray and expect God to take away the difficult situation in our lives.
But God doesn’t always work that way.
Sometimes, he doesn’t take away the storm.
These are times that can test our faith in God.
We might think God is punishing us.
We might wonder if God really loves us.
We might wonder if God really exists.
Let’s look back at that opening passage about Paul’s journey.
Acts 27:21-26
Paul was not on a luxury cruise
Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial.
The ship he was on had already had problems.
They had been out of food for several days.
Why? God had warned Paul that storms were coming and that the ship should not sail yet, but the Roman soldiers did not listen.
Now the storm was destroying the ship, and there did not seem to be any hope.
But Paul still had hope!
God sent an angel in the night to encourage Paul.
God promised that the boat would sink, but nobody would die.
Being a Christian does not mean that bad things will not happen to us.
God does not promise to keep bad things from happening.
Friends will betray us.
We will be persecuted for standing up for what is right.
Tragedy will come.
Loved ones will die.
We won’t find work.
We will face sickness or injury.
In the midst of these times, we will experience all kinds of emotions
Sadness
Anger, sometimes including anger at God
Frustration
Depression
Maybe even guilt for feeling these other things!
What does God promise?
When we are caught on a sinking ship, it’s only natural to feel those emotions, and God doesn’t judge us for our emotions.
But if we let those emotions control us, we will be stuck on the sinking ship.
Instead, we need to trust God in spite of what our emotions are screaming.
So what do you do when you realize your ship is sinking?
Accept the fact that you are in trouble.
It does no good to deny it, and you can’t avoid it, so you have to face it.
Don’t waste time looking for someone to blame.
Paul was on a sinking ship because the ship’s captain did not listen to Paul’s advice.
However—you do not see Paul blaming the captain or the other soldiers.
Because another reason Paul was on that ship is that he gave himself to the Romans for trial.
Paul asked to be able to stand trial before Caesar in Rome.
Why did Paul do that? Because he knew God wanted him to go to Rome.
Ninety-nine percent of the problems you face are the result of choices you made.
Jonah ended up in the fish’s belly because he tried to run from God.
Occasionally, though rarely, someone might actually seek to cause you harm.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused by his master’s wife, and put into prison for years.
Or maybe it seems there is no reason for your situation.
Job was a godly man, but he still lost everything—including his health.·
We must accept the fact that we live in a sinful world, and sometimes bad things happen to good people.
No matter the way that we find ourselves on a sinking ship, what matters is that God has a purpose for us in the midst of it all.
The night before the shipwreck, God sent an angel to Paul with encouragement and instruction as we read in Acts 27:23-26.
The angel who came to Paul did not pick Paul up and carry him to safety.
Paul went into the stormy water just like everyone else, and he struggled against the waves and sharp rocks until he made it to the land.
But he did so with confidence because of the promise God had given him that every person from that ship would be ok.
And his confidence was a witness to all those Roman soldiers traveling with him.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Sometimes God will miraculously change the situation, like when Jesus calmed the stormy sea of Galilee, but usually He allows us to go through the storm.
If our ship is sinking, that doesn’t mean God has abandoned us.
He’s with us.
Furthermore, this sinking ship is actually an opportunity for God to reveal himself more fully.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
We grow by facing the hard times.
As long as you have breath, you have a function.
Be faithful to serve God actively where you are in whatever way you can.
Most importantly, remember that even the troubles in life are part of your journey to becoming the man or woman God created you to be.
Bodybuilders don’t get big muscles by lifting pillows.
Eagles don’t fly high by finding the gentle winds.
They push into the strong winds.
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Conclusion
All of us will go through storms. All of us will experience a time when our ship sinks. When that happens:
Accept the fact that it happened.
You can try to understand it, but don’t waste time blaming people.
Ask God for wisdom in how to go forward from here.
Act in faith to what God says to you.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.