Craig Smith - There is a Hope - Part 2
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Well, hey, welcome to Mission Hills. We’re going to dive right in today. So why don’t you go and grab a Bible and start making your way to Acts chapter 27? Acts 27. We’re kind of in a little mini-series inside our larger series, Unshakable, right now. Last week and today, both, we’re talking about the importance of hope. If you’re going to have an unshakable life, you’re going to have to have hope. And what we said last week was hope is what actually gets us through what we’re going through. How many of us are going through something right now? Yeah.
Hope is what’s going to get you through what you’re going through. Jesus said, «Whoever hears my words and puts them into practice, well, they’re like the guy who built his house on the rock.» And that’s faith; where you build the house, that’s a faith issue. Okay, but whether or not you stay in the house when the storm starts to beat against the walls, that, a lot of times, that’s a hope issue. Hope is what keeps us in the house, is what keeps us holding on, is what keeps us moving forward. And we’re talking about where we find that hope and what can get in the way of it.
And we’re doing that in the context of a conversation about a storm-sort of a spiritual storm for the Apostle Paul to start with. He had a spiritual storm because he was preaching the gospel. He got arrested; he couldn’t get a fair trial. And so he had to play his citizenship in Rome card. And so now he’s on his way to Rome. But then the spiritual storm turned into a physical storm because the boat got caught in this big storm. It’s been going on for a while.
And that’s where we rejoin the story where we left off last week. This is Acts 27:7. It says, «On the 14th night, we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea.» Two weeks, right? And can we just be real? Sometimes it’s not the power of the storm; it’s the persistence of it that causes us to lose hope. It’s not how powerful the storm is; it’s just how long it lasts. And even if it’s not a big storm, if we’ve been in it long enough, we can start to feel like it’s never going to end.
How many know what I’m talking about? Yeah, maybe you’re in a storm right now, and you’re like, «Yeah, 14 days? That’s nothing! I’ve been in it for 14 years.» It’s just been going on for a long time, and that can start to make it hard to hold on to hope, right? So it’s been 2 weeks now. It says, «When about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were approaching land.» And so they took a sounding. And they dropped the rope with a stone, and they found that the water was 120 feet deep.
Now, a short time later, they took a sounding again, and they found that it was 90 feet deep. So it’s getting shallower, which means they’re coming up on something. They don’t really know where they are, but it’s getting shallower. And that sounds like good news, but actually, they’re like, «Well, we don’t know what we’re about to run into. It could just be rocks.» Right?
And so fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let down the lifeboat into the sea, pretending that they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. And then Paul said to the centurion, because Paul’s a big old tattletale apparently, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, «Hey, unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.» And so the soldiers cut the ropes that tied the lifeboat, and they let it drift away. It’s a really interesting situation because Paul has received a word from God. He’s got a word from God that everybody’s going to survive.
If you were with us last week, you may remember that he got a prophetic word from God: everybody’s going to survive. But now he says, «Yeah, but we need these men in order to pull that off. If we don’t have the sailors…» Most scholars believe that what was going on here was simply that the sailors were the ones who knew how to navigate. They were the ones who knew how to make quick course corrections and understand and read the waters. I mean, they had this sense that the water was getting shallower even though they hadn’t seen it yet, and then they kind of confirmed their sense.
So there’s a skill set, right? There’s an ability to do some things that the sailors had that nobody else had. And so Paul says, «Yeah, we’re going to need them working for us,» which is kind of an interesting thing because, you know, God has said everybody’s going to survive, and now Paul’s kind of focusing on what we need these people to do. And we know that God could have guided and guarded the ship without these sailors, right? How many of us know that? How many of us know that God could have sailed the ship through all the dangerous things without any sailors on board? How many of us know-and this would have been cool-right?
God could have picked the boat up into the air and just sailed it through the air and then set it down. So we all know he could have done that, and that would have been cool, right? You' d be like, «I want to be on that boat!» So, why is Paul worried about keeping the sailors on board? It kind of raises an interesting theological question, doesn’t it? Where’s Paul’s hope? Was Paul’s hope in the word or in the work? Was it in the word of God or the work of men? And, by the way, that’s a theological conversation that comes up at different points in the Bible because you get people like Joseph saying to his brothers, «Yeah, you intended this for evil; your work was this, but God intended it for good.»
So we know he can do that. But then you have other places in the Bible where it almost sounds like it kind of depends on both of those. Sometimes we have this conversation about word and work. Like in the book of James, James says, «Listen, faith without works is-does anybody know? -it’s dead.» Okay, so wait a minute. Wait. Which is it, James? How are we saved? Is it that we trust God’s word, the word of the gospel, or do we have to somehow work it out? And the answer is, it’s not really either one of those things. Okay? This is what’s so interesting about this thing that we call the gospel and this thing that gives us hope. It’s not really just the word of God or the work of men; it’s some kind of interesting combination of those two.
What we see in the Bible a lot and what we see here in mission else pretty often is that it’s God who makes the way. And so our confidence has to be in God’s word. But here’s the thing: God makes a way, but we have to walk it, right? God does what only God can do. God performs a miracle that only His power could have accomplished. God makes a way, but then we have to walk it. And it’s not that we’re working anything; it’s just that we’re kind of walking it, right? I mean, God made a way through the sea, right? He parted the sea, but Moses and the Israelites had to walk between the walls, right? I mean, it was God who took down Goliath, but David had to walk onto the battlefield, right? Peter-yeah, Peter walked on water.
Jesus enabled Peter to walk on water, but Peter had to step out of the boat and walk out onto the waves, right? I mean, God will redeem your marriage, but you might have to go to re-engage and be honest and say, «Yeah, I’ve been stupid; I haven’t done this marriage thing right,» and I might need to do some work and kind of change some things, right? I mean, God can restore that relationship in your life, but you’re going to have to walk in humility as you recognize that you’ve been part of the problem, okay?
I mean, God can set you free from that addiction; He can do a supernatural work and set you free from that addiction. But you might have to go to regen and say, «I’m an addict, and I need some help, and I need to do what the homework says,» right? I mean, God can heal your financial situation, but you might have to say, «I am so stupid when it comes to money and I need to know what God says about how to handle money,» and then I need to actually-maybe I’m going to go to Financial Peace University and do the homework. I’m going to get on a budget.
And so, so which is it? Is it the word or the work? It’s the wrong question. Because sometimes in, and some of you, and I love you, but I’m going to tell you the reason you’re struggling and the reason that hope is starting to fade is because you’re all word and you’re no work. You’re like, «Why? But I’ve prayed and I’ve asked God and God promised this, and I don’t know why I’m not seeing the fulfillment of his promises in my life.» Because you’re all word and no work. And some of you, you’re losing hope because you’re tired, because you’re all work and no word.
You’re like, «But I’m working as hard as I can and I’m doing all the things, and I read the books and I listen to podcasts, and I’m trying so hard to be good and righteous, and trying to convince God to love.» Well, that doesn’t work either. It’s not the word or the work. It’s faith in the word and then faithfulness to the work of obedience he calls us to, and then it’s the word and it’s the work and it’s the word and it’s the work. What do we call this? We call this the walk. Listen to me, our hope isn’t in the word or the work. Our hope is in the walk.
Do you hear me, church? It’s the work of trusting God’s word, which we call the walk. It’s the walk of faith in God’s word and faithfulness to the things that he calls us to be obedient to. We see that over and over in the Bible. And we see it right here. Paul says, «My hope is in God’s word, but I also know that God’s going to accomplish his word through the work.» And so we need these people on board. And sometimes we lose hope because we’re focused on one or the other. And it’s not one or the other; it’s the walk.
So just before dawn-I’m out of breath from that-just before dawn, Paul urged them all to eat. «For the last 14 days,» he said, «you have been in constant suspense and you’ve gone without food. You haven’t eaten anything. And now I urge you to take some food; you need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.» That’s faith in God’s word. But he also says, «But here’s what you need to do. Here’s how you walk.» And I love what he says to do. I love it because can we just agree that Paul is a very spiritual person? Anybody have a problem with that? Can we just all agree Paul is a very spiritual person?
Here’s the thing: when you’re interacting with a spiritual person and you’re saying, «Hey, I’m struggling with this and this is going on, this is really hard,» what does a spiritual person typically say you need to do? They say, just say it with me: «You need to pray,» which is good advice. But it’s interesting, Paul-a very spiritual person, if we can all agree on that — says, «Hey, we’re in the storm and we’re all kind of worn out and tired, and here’s what I need you to do: Have a bite to eat.»
Isn’t that interesting? I love that! By the way, some of you are going to hate this because you’re going to say, «This sounds not very spiritual.» But I’m going to argue that whether it sounds spiritual or not, it is biblical. He didn’t say, «Here’s what we need to do, guys. We need a prayer meeting. We’ve got to get together and pray.» He didn’t say, «We need to get together and have a public reading of God’s word. I’m going to put some more scripture in your life and that’s what you need. That’s where your hope’s going to come from.»
He didn’t say, «Hey, let’s get some worship stuff going on the Spotify playlist.» «Why-why are we-what is that weird music we’re playing over the ship speakers?» No, no. «Get rid of that! Let’s get some elevation worship going on. Let’s get some’Way Maker' going on.» Right? He didn’t say any of that. He says, «Everybody, you need to eat something.» And it sounds super unspiritual, but I’m going to argue that it’s actually, it’s not only biblical-by the way, it is biblical -it’s not even the first time that we see this.
Anybody remember the story of Elijah? See, Elijah is a prophet, and he had this amazing spiritual victory over the prophets of Baal. I mean, power worked through Elijah in an unbelievable way, right? Fire literally came down from heaven because of his prayers. He had what we often have, which is an expectation of what would happen after that, and that everything would be good and fine. But his expectation didn’t meet his experience, and he faced more persecution. That gap-that’s where the problem is, right?
It’s the gap between expectation and experience. He got discouraged and frustrated because he faced more persecution, and he went farther than he was supposed to go. He went into a place that God had never called him to go. He left behind the companion that God had given to travel with, so he was isolated. He was worn out, exhausted, frustrated, and without hope. He sat down under a tree, and I know he was without hope because he sat down under a tree and prayed to die. Dramatic much, Elijah? He prayed to die, and an angel showed up. I mean, talk about a spiritual person! An angel is not just a spiritual person; an angel is a spirit. You cannot get more spiritual than an actual spirit, right?
The spirit shows up, and he looks at Elijah, who has lost hope, and he says, «Elijah, what’s wrong with your prayer life, buddy?» No, that’s not what he says. He says, «Elijah, you just need to remember the word of God. You need to put more…» Well, no, that’s not what he said. He said, «Elijah, you just need to start worshiping God. Lift your eyes to the heavens and sing out the praises of God.» Right? No, actually, what the Bible says is that the angel showed up and said, «Dude, have a snack and take a nap.» He had a snack, took a nap, and woke up still grumpy. So the angel said, «Do it again. Have some more to eat and have another little sleep.»
I think that’s actually a pretty powerful thing. I know it didn’t sound spiritual, but here, I’ll make it spiritual, okay? For those of you that are so spiritually minded that this doesn’t feel right, here’s the reason Paul does this. Here’s why the angel did this to Elijah. You and I, human beings, we are what’s called an entwined dualism. Everybody feel better now? All right, now we’re getting real stuff, right? We’re an entwined dualism, meaning we have two parts: dualism. We have a body and we have a soul. Okay? We have a physical nature and a spiritual nature. But they’re entwined; they interact with each other so closely that you can have a spiritual decision that has a physical impact, right?
You can decide, «I’m going to pray,» so you’re going to adopt a posture of prayer. You can pray and say, «I’m asking for something, so I’m going to put my hands out like we sometimes do here. I’m going to put a posture of receiving.» Okay, but that’s driven by my spiritual decision. You can say, «I have made a spiritual decision to seek the Lord, and I’m going to fast; I’m going to choose not to eat.»
That’s a spiritual decision with a physical impact, right? But it also works the other way around. You can have a physical impact on your spiritual life. Anybody ever been hangry? You know what hangry is? Have you ever seen the Snickers commercial? Right? I mean, you’re really grumpy, and you’re being a jerk, and somebody says, «Here, have a Snickers.» Because the reality is sometimes we think we’re angry, and we are, being kind of grumpy and irritable, but the reality is the blood sugar’s running low, right? We haven’t eaten, and we’re both these things.
If we don’t pay attention to both of those things, there’s going to be a problem, right? And so, later on in his letters, Paul writes that we have this treasure, which is the gospel, the love of God, the relationship with God adopted. We have this treasure, and he says it’s hope. He says we have this treasure in jars of clay, in vessels of clay, in physical forms. Here’s the problem: you get a great treasure like hope in a jar, and the jar gets broken. What happens to the treasure? It leaks out, right?
That’s why Paul says, «Hey listen, we’re not done with this yet. You need to get through what you’re going through, and you’re going to need some hope.» And so the first place that he starts to address hope is he says, «Have something to eat.» Because he knows, listen, it’s hard to have hope when you’re hungry. You understand what I’m saying? It’s hard to have confidence and courage when you’re depleted, when you’re worn out, when you’re worn down, and when you’re suffering from malnourishment. And so he gives what looks like very mundane, earthly, non-spiritual kind of advice, but it actually is deeply spiritual advice rooted in how God made us, because it’s hard to hold on to hope when you’re hungry.
So let me ask you the most spiritual question you’re going to be asked this week. Okay, you ready? How are you taking care of yourself? How are you taking care of your body? I had somebody ask me this week, «Hey, you know, pastor, what’s your physical fitness routine?» And I said, «I’d love to pray for you.» So I don’t want to talk about that right now, because the reality is I’m in a season-I’m getting ready to preach this-and I was like, «I hope nobody asks me about that,» because I’m not taking great care of myself physically right now.
I’m not managing my margin as much as I could. There’s a lot going on, and I’m moving really fast, and everything, and I haven’t been to the gym in a long time. I’m not going to tell you how long, but it’s been a while. And here’s the thing: I can feel it. I can feel that when I’m not taking care of myself, when I’m not eating well, things like that — the heavy gets heavier, right? And when I’m encountering difficult things, they just feel a little harder than they would have felt otherwise. And I know this doesn’t feel super spiritual, but you see it, right? It’s biblical.
The first thing Paul says is, «Have something to eat.» It’s so hard to have hope when you’re hungry. Maybe the beginning of God fanning hope into flame in your life is just that you need to take care of the body He’s given you, because the vessel’s broken, and He keeps pouring it in, and it keeps just flowing back out. Now, after he did this, he took some bread, he gave thanks to God in front of them all, and then he broke it and began to eat. But does that sound familiar to anybody? Yeah, Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, also wrote the Gospel of Luke, where he describes somebody else doing almost exactly the same thing, with almost identical words.
And of course, I’m thinking about Jesus, what we call the Last Supper. Jesus took some bread, He gave thanks, and He broke it, and they ate. Now, Luke uses almost exactly the same words to describe what Paul did here. And here’s what’s interesting: It’s not only that they did the same things, but they did them in almost identical situations. They both did those things in the midst of storms. For Jesus, the storm was that He knew that His enemies were gathered around, and He knew that He was within a couple of hours of being betrayed by His closest followers. He knew that the rest of His followers who didn’t betray Him would abandon Him, right?
And He knew that He was going to be arrested. He knew He was going to be beaten. He knew He was going to be nailed to the cross. And He knew He was going to die. He’s in the middle of a storm. And in the middle of that storm, He takes some bread and gives thanks. And then He breaks it, and then they eat. And now Paul-well, the storm’s not over. The seas haven’t calmed. The sun hasn’t broken through. But in the middle of the storm, just like Jesus, what does he do? He takes some bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and they eat.
And that’s so powerful because I don’t know about you. Here’s what I tend to do-just being really real with you. I tend to hold off my thanks until after I’ve seen the storm calm. When I see God move, and when I see the problems solved, and when I see things get better, then that’s when I tend to go, «God, thank You for making it better. Thank You for calming the seas. Thank You for stilling the storm.» Thank You! I love that. But what I see consistently in Scripture is people who are willing to give thanks even before the seas calm.
And as I’ve begun to incorporate this into my own life, what I’ve discovered is there’s something about that process that, man, it fans the flames of hope. I’m reminding myself of what God has done and that God is with me even in the midst of this. And yeah, like we talked about last week, the storm may be hiding what I’m trying to hope in, but it’s giving thanks. It reminds me that hidden isn’t hopeless, right? We talked about that last week. So can I just tell you this?
Maybe, maybe this is the most important thing God has for you today: Don’t wait for calm seas to give thanks. Don’t make the mistake I’ve made so often in my life. Don’t wait for calm seas to give thanks. Give thanks right now in the storm, and you’re going to find the hope that you need to get through the storm. Now they were all encouraged, and they ate some food themselves. And altogether there were 276 of us on board. And when they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. And when daylight came, they did not recognize the land. But they saw a bay with a sandy beach where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
You know why they didn’t recognize the bay? Because they were almost 500 miles off course-485 miles. See, if you were with us last week, you remember they had gotten to the island of Crete, and they realized that’s not a good place to spend the winter because the winds were starting to pick up. And so they said, «Well, we’re going to sail from where we are to this harbor called Phoenix on the island of Crete. It’s better protected from the different kinds of winds.» It was about 40 miles from where they were to where they wanted to go to spend the winter. But somewhere in the course of that 40-mile trip, the wind came in. It blew them out to sea.
Now for two weeks they’ve been driven by the winds in the face of this long-lasting storm, and they’re 485 miles away from where they were headed. That’s a long way. They have no idea where they are. They have no idea what this land is they’re looking at; none of that seems familiar. But what I love is they don’t recognize it, but they receive it for what it is. Do you see that? They go, «That’s hope right there. We need to run aground on that. That’s the fulfillment of God’s promise that we’re going to be saved. That’s right there. That’s God’s provision right now.»
And I love it! They didn’t recognize it, but they received it for what it was. And that’s so powerful to me because I look back on my life, and how often what I find is that I had plans. By the way, how many of us are planners? Have you ever heard what somebody told me years and years ago? They said, «Hey, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.» Somebody told me that years ago, and I was like, «Yeah, but I’m still a planner, and I’m going to make plans.» But can I just tell you how often I have given Jesus my plans, and He’s gone, «Yeah, we’re not doing that.»
And I’m so glad; my plans -His plans are so much better than my plans. But I’ve made plans over and over and over again, right? I was supposed to be a fighter pilot; that was the original plan. And then my eyes went bad. So I said, «Okay, I’m going to do quantum physics.» Turns out I’m not that good at math. So then I said, «Okay, I’m going to be a Christian rock star.»
And it turns out I’m not that good-looking. And along the way, He just kept making these changes in plans, and I didn’t want to be a pastor. But I finally was like, «Okay, I guess I’m a youth pastor, but I don’t ever want to be a lead pastor.» He’s like, «Well, we’ll go to seminary.» I was like, «I don’t want to go to seminary because kids don’t need theology.» And that’s not true, by the way; it’s really not true. But I was like, «Why am I going to seminary?» But I did seminary. And then they said, «Hey, why don’t you come teach seminary?» I was like, «Because I don’t want to be a professor! They’re boring, and I don’t want to be that guy!» And all along the way.
And I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but I’ve always been jealous of the people who have a motto in life that they follow. Especially the guys who say, «My motto in life is in Latin.» Like, Latin’s just cool, right? And people say, «My motto in life is carpe diem.» Like, that sounds really cool! What does that mean? Like, «seize the day.» I’m like, it’s so much better in Latin, right?
And I’ve always wanted one of those mottos, but over the years, I’ve come to understand that I have a motto. God’s given me a motto. Do you want to hear it? Here it is. You ready? Here’s my motto. Oh, I don’t know if I could say it in Latin; maybe it’d be more inspiring. But this is what I’ve experienced over and over and over again: I tell God my plans, and He’s like, «Yeah, that’s a stupid plan. We’re not doing that.» And I’m so grateful for that. Okay, I’m so grateful because what I get to do is so much better than what I ever thought I’d be able to be part of. I love it.
But here’s the thing. Here’s the downside of this: When you have a plan, you have a perception of God’s provision. Because if my plan is this, then when God moves and gives me what I want, it’s going to look like this.'Cause I know’cause it’s the plan, right? And what we see here, and what I’ve seen so often in my life, is this unfortunate reality that God’s provision may not look like your plan. You hear me, church? God’s provision may not look like your plan, but your plan might keep you from recognizing God’s provision. Because you’re like, «I don’t know where this is. This is not-no, no, no, no, Jesus, check the map! We’re supposed to be — where? Where am I?» Right?
And I love that they didn’t recognize it, but they received it for what it was. It was provision. And some of you are here today, and I just want to tell you, you’re frustrated with God because you’re like, «I’ve been praying, and I want to trust His word, and His word says that He’s going to provide, but I don’t see it.» And it may be that it’s not that God hasn’t provided, but it may be that your plan is keeping you from seeing His provision because His provision just doesn’t look like your plan.
So, cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea. And at the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. And then they hoisted the foresail to the wind, and they made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar, and it ran aground, and the bow stuck fast and would not move. And the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. And 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 he kept them from carrying out their plan. And he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and to get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship.
And in this way, everyone reached land safely. So just stick with me for a second, because I think this is so interesting. They’ve been working so hard to save the ship. If you were with us last week, you know some of the things that we haven’t seen today. They put ropes around the hull to try to hold it together, keep the water from getting in. Because the problem’s not when the ship’s in the boat or when the boat’s in the water. The problem is when the water starts getting into the boat, right?
So they’ve got ropes, and they’re holding it tight to try to keep the planks together, and they’ve thrown all the cargo overboard, and they’ve thrown away the extra sails and ropes. And then they’ve started dropping -we see it today — five different anchors to kind of slow the ship, to try to save the ship, right? They’ve thrown away the food. I mean, they’ve done so much to save the ship because that’s where their hope was, right? Was in the ship. And now the ship is dashed to pieces, and they worked so hard to save the ship, and it’s the wreckage of the ship that actually ends up saving them. Isn’t that interesting?
And I was reading that, and I was really struck by that. I felt like the Lord spoke to me, and I’ll be honest; I don’t know that this is a word for anybody else but me and some stuff I’m going through. But I’m going to share what God said to me through this passage because maybe it means something to somebody more than just me. Here’s what God said to me: He said, «Craig, don’t despise the pieces. Don’t despise the pieces.»
See, I think it’s so easy to look at what’s been lost and go, «That was my hope. It was right there, and it’s gone.» Or we look at what’s left after what’s been lost, and we go, «What hope is there in that?» And yet we have a God who loves to turn pieces into provisions, don’t we? The story of the little boy with the five pieces of bread and the two fish that Jesus used to feed 5,000, or the woman who came to the prophet and said, «My life’s falling apart. Everything’s a mess. My husband’s died, and the creditors are calling, and we’ve got nothing.» And he goes, «You’ve got nothing?» He goes, «Well, you’ve got a little piece of oil in the bottom of a jar, but that’s it.» He goes, «Okay, go get as many jars as you can.»
So they got jars, and he said, «Pour that little piece of oil into that jar.» And they did that, and that jar filled up. So they put it in the next one, and she kept pouring and pouring and pouring until everyone was full, at which point I promise you they wished they had gotten more jars. And he said, «Now you sell that and pay off your creditors, and you can live on the rest.» Our God loves to turn pieces into provisions, but sometimes we look at the wreckage of the plan, the thing we’ve been trying so hard to save, and we go, «That’s useless,» and «Jesus is not in my hands.»
Maybe you’re in a place right now where you’re kind of looking at the wreckage and the pieces, and God just wants to say to you, «Don’t despise the pieces. You have no idea what I can do with what feels like nothing.» Now, once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta, and the islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us because it was raining and cold. And Paul gathered a pile of brushwood. I love that! By the way, Paul’s just come through a storm. They’ve survived this incredible storm, and what’s Paul doing? He’s serving. He’s helping. He goes and gets some wood and brings a pile of brushwood. And as he put it on the fire, a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on his hand.
Now, if I’m Paul, that’s the last straw! Anybody ever tried to help and got hurt? Tried to be a blessing, and you got bit? Anybody? He got arrested for preaching. He couldn’t get a fair trial. He got thrown in a boat. They got caught in a storm. They got destroyed in the waves. He’s wet, and he’s cold and tired and worn out. And he’s like, «But I’m going to serve. I’m going to be just like Jesus.» And he’s like, just like Jesus. He serves, and a snake comes out and bites him on the stupid hand. And when the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, «This man must be a murderer. For though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.»
But Paul shook the snake off into the fire. I love that! Not just shook it off; he’s like, «Good!» And he suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. Can we just talk about how fast they flipped? I mean, they went from condemnation -"All these horrible things couldn’t be happening to him unless he were a really horrible person «-they went from condemnation to adoration: „I think he might be a god.“
And here’s what’s really interesting to me: Paul didn’t respond to either thing. He didn’t deny the condemnation, and he didn’t deny the accusation. But he also didn’t deny the adoration, which is really interesting because earlier in the book of Acts, in Acts 14, the same kind of thing happened. He did a miracle, and people said, „He must be a god.“ They came to worship him, and he tore his robes and said, „No, no, no, I’m just a man serving Jesus.“ But here the same thing happens: they’re like, „I think he must be a god,“ and Paul says nothing, or at least, Luke doesn’t report it.
And I think that’s really interesting. Here’s what I think: I think he’s starting to understand you can’t build anything on what other people think of you, right? He’s not defending himself against the condemnation. You want to think that whatever he’s also not even denying the adoration. And the reason is that he knows it’s going to flip again. Because here’s the thing: listen, what other people think of you can never be your firm foundation. Do you hear me, church? What other people think of you can never be your firm foundation because what they think now is not going to be what they think next.
I have a note that I wrote for myself; it’s on my desk, and it’s just a reminder. It’s a phrase that God gave me, and the phrase is this: „Don’t let praise go to your head or criticism to your heart,“ because it flip-flops. People leave because they’re upset about some way that I’ve disappointed them, and I think it’s genuine; I’ve disappointed them in that way. And then sometimes they come back, and they’re like, „You’re not quite as bad as we thought you were.“ I’m like, „I probably am; you just don’t know it yet.“ But sometimes people go, „Oh, you’re amazing.“
And then I say something, or I don’t say something, or I say too much, or I don’t say quite enough, and then they go. And I get it; that’s okay. But I’ve learned that if I put my foundation on what other people think of me, I’m always going to be shaken. Instead of being shaken, what do you have to do? You got to shake it off, right? I mean, if they think badly of you, shake it off! Paul shakes it off just the same way he shook off the snake, right? And if they think you’re amazing, shake it off! Is anybody getting Taylor Swift vibes? Shake it off! Shake it! 'Cause the haters gonna hate. Is it just me?
Okay, listen: what other people think of you can never be your firm foundation. And God wants to pour peace into you, but sometimes we’re so into what other people say that we’re letting it leak out. We’re letting the devil steal it faster than God is supplying it because we’re building on the wrong foundation. But here’s the thing: if I’m Paul, I’m still ticked. I got arrested, I got thrown on a boat, I got caught in a storm, I got carried to the shore by pieces, I got bit by a stupid snake. God, where are you? And maybe not „God, where are you?“ but „God, why?“ Right? Does that feel like a fair question?
Here’s why: there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us into his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came, and they were cured.
Do you know why he was invited into the home? Because of what the people saw happen with the snake. That’s why he was given access to the official’s house. Do you know why he got bit by a snake? Because he got driven here by a storm. He goes in; he’s given access, and he goes in and prays over this man. Then, in Luke’s account, it’s very clear: he says he places his hands on him, and it’s hands- not just the good hand that hadn’t been bitten, but the hand that had been bitten. He places his hands on the man and heals him.
Just think about that for a second, because the hand that had been bitten becomes the hand that blesses. The hand that had been hurt becomes the hand that heals. And it’s not just physical healing. The Bible doesn’t say anything more about this, but church history says that the gospel took root in Malta in a powerful way, and many people became followers of Jesus, and it became a stronghold of Christianity in the first century. Publius, this official, was the first bishop of Malta; he became a believer and a leader of the church there.
It’s not just physical healing; it’s salvation for many. And that’s why the arrest, and that’s why the storm, and that’s why the viper. Because here’s the thing, and I know we don’t like it, but it’s true: adversity creates access. Adversity creates access. It’s the hard things that we go through that give us the platform to speak into the lives of other people who are in hard things. If you’ve lived the perfect life and never struggled for a day, you have no comfort to offer somebody. You can’t walk them through what it looks like to hope in the Lord, to follow him, and to walk with him.
It’s why Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth: he said, „Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.“ Sometimes we’re in a storm because God wants to use you to live on mission with people who are in a very similar storm. And I don’t know about you, but that gives me some hope, because there’s the hope that God will rescue me, and there is hope that God will rescue you. Walk with him and he will lead you through it. God will rescue you; there’s hope in that.
But I think it’s even more than that for me: so not only can he rescue me, but he can redeem the storm itself. He can turn everything that I’ve gone through into an opportunity to live on mission with Jesus and to give hope and speak hope into other people’s lives. That’s a powerful thing, isn’t it? And so just listen to me: there is hope. No matter what you’re going through today, there is hope that God will rescue us from the storm and that he will redeem the storm.
Hey God, would you just speak hope into our lives right now? I know there are people here today who are having a hard time holding on to hope; they feel like it’s hidden. And I pray that you would fan the flames of hope alive. Let them know that hidden is not hopeless. There are people here today who have realized that they are despising the pieces and they’re angry and bitter at you for what’s been lost, failing to understand that sometimes the salvation is actually in the pieces. And I’m there. And so I just confess that, and I ask that you would help me to stop despising the pieces, and in that way, to give me hope and fan the flames that say not only can you rescue us from the storm, but you can redeem the storm itself, and you can turn it into something good that gives us a platform that allows us to have access to people we otherwise would never be able to speak hope into. Lord, we want to be rescued, but we also want to see that redemption. And so I pray that your Holy Spirit in this moment would fan the flames of hope in every heart. And I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.