“The soldiers planned to kill the
prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life
and kept them from carrying out their plan.”
Acts 27:42-43a.
The ship on which Paul was a
prisoner was about to wreck on the coast of Malta, and the soldiers who watched
over the prisoners were planning on killing all the prisoners so that they could
not escape. Paul had no control over who
would or would not be killed, but the centurion did. Because the centurion wanted to spare Paul,
he ordered that none of the prisoners be killed. Paul was at peace in this situation because
he was fully aware that God was in control.
God had a plan for Paul, and the centurion was to be one who would be
used to help Him fulfill it.
Oftentimes, I start to get anxious
when situations get out of my control.
This is precisely the moment that I need to stop wrestling and start to
rest with assurance that I am in His hands.
Even when I do rest, it is very easy for me to slip right back into
wrestling for the control, in my own strength.
It is an on-going struggle to stop the wrestling match and to trust in
and rely on the Spirit of God to follow through in ways that I could never have
done, anyway. Paul recognized God’s
protective hand over his life and focused his attention on following after His
leading through the situation. Paul
wasn’t one of the prisoners trying to escape.
I need not be one who is trying to escape from my predicaments, but
instead, I need to wait patiently to see what steps need to be taken in order
to follow God’s leading.
Questions to consider: When you have
been anxious, how have you trusted God in those situations? How did being anxious work out for you? Are there any situations from which you are
presently trying to “escape”? If you
take a moment to ask God, what do you suppose He would say to you?
Prayer: Father, help me to not be
like the prisoners in this verse, who were anxious and worried for their lives,
but instead help me to be like Paul, resting in Your leading. Amen.
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