December 13, 2012 - Acts 28:3

            “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.

            Once on land, the survivors of the shipwreck sought warmth, so they started a fire.  As Paul was gathering wood for the fire, a venomous viper, hiding in the pile of wood, latched onto Paul’s hand. Everyone who witnessed this thought that Paul must have committed some awful crime and that he was being judged by being bitten by the snake.  Everyone expected Paul to die within a brief time, but when he didn’t, all the people were amazed and thought Paul to be a god come down to visit them.  The snake had latched onto Paul’s hand, and all he did to get rid of it was to shake it off into the fire.  He remained calm throughout the ordeal, standing on the promise of God: “You shall take up serpents.”

            Many times when something bad happens to us, our first reaction may be similar to the people’s reaction to seeing the snake latched onto Paul’s hand: what did I do to deserve this?  I must have done something terrible to have this happen to me.  Or perhaps we react by saying, “I didn’t deserve that to happen.  I’ve been a good person, and yet this bad thing has happened to me.  Why?”  Notice that it wasn’t Paul who react first, one way, and then the other.  It was the people.  They had quite a swing of thought and emotions!  Yet Paul stayed very steady.  That is so instructive on how I need to respond within those potentially bad situations and is very helpful for me in my current situation.

            Questions to consider: When negative or bad things happen to you, how do you respond or react? If you ever wondered, “Why did that happen to me?”, how did you work through those emotions?  Do you see yourself as steady, like Paul, or with wide emotional swings, like the people?  How do you move toward being steadier, like Paul?

            Prayer: Father, I thank You that nothing seems to shake You from being so steady.  With all of the calamity going on in the world, You remain my solid rock!  Help me to become more solid and steady in the days to come.  Amen.