Thursday, January 18, 2024

Out of Control

And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.  Acts 27:1

 If you are anything like me, you like feeling as if you are in control of most things in your life.  Even if it is just on the surface, I feel safest when I am the one who is determining the choices I will make.  Many years I made decisions based on what was popular or what I wanted to do at the time, but I always seem to get myself in a place where I had little or no control over what happened next.  It was not wisdom that I followed or based my choices on, so often I would have to bear the consequences of foolishness.  It was very frustrating at times because I would have to call out to someone for help, usually financial, because I lived my life only thinking about me and mine.  In that position, it would have been easy to fall into a victim mentality, and sometimes I actually did.  But mostly, I was determined that I had gotten myself into the mess and it was up to me to get out. Thank goodness I had enough sense to call on God even when I was leaving Him out of most of my life.

Now I try to make my decisions base on God’s direction.  When I don’t know what is the right thing to do, I don’t go asking other people who don’t follow the Lord, I get godly counsel and especially press into to my heavenly Father for the plan.  He is faithful to be there and He always has a plan but what I do after that is follow it.  Most times it is totally different than I would have thought of and always it requires faith steps to believe that God is going to do His part after I make the way doing mine.

So in the reading today, it looked like Paul was up against some circumstances that he had no control over.  First of all, he was a prisoner, and most prisoners were at the mercy of the guards watching over them.  However, because Paul was trusting God and actually on the path God had planned for Him, there was favor with him wherever he was.  A man name Julius was in charge and actually showed kindness to Paul and those traveling with him.  Paul was even given permission to see friends and receive care and provisions from them.  This is amazing!  He was completely released on his own while they were in port at Sidon.  Even though he was obviously not in control, he was given freedoms.  Of course, we know this was only because he was living step by step following the plan of God for his life.

This is great news because we can have the same kind of favor and freedom right in the middle of storms and places that we are obviously out of our control.  Think about it at your job or when you go out any place in public.  Or those times when you are in a troubling trial, God’s favor can even reach you right there in the middle.

Today I want to encourage you to get in line with the plan of God for your life.  Listen and follow the directions He is speaking to your heart.  Then when you have times in life that are out of your control, you will see the One who is in control show up right in the middle of your struggle.  He will give you favor, and He will get you through to victory.  You can really only control one person in your life and that is you. Decide today that you are not going to make any more decisions without God’s help from His Spirit and His Word.

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 27:1-8

1 And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. 

2 So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. 

3 And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. 

4 When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 

5 And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 

6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. 

8 Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.