"Hold Me"
Acts 28:11-16
The family sat around the breakfast table, and as was the custom, the father returned thanks and asked God’s blessing on the food. But immediately after, as was also his habit, he began grumbling about the hard times, the poor quality of the food he was forced to eat, and the way it was cooked. This time though his little daughter interrupted him: “Daddy, did God hear what you said when you were giving thanks?” “Sure He did,” the father replied with the confident air of an instructor.
“And did God hear what you said about the bacon and the biscuits and the coffee?” she asked. “Yes,” the father answered cautiously. A few seconds passed before his daughter then asked, “Daddy, which do you think God believes?”
Here’s the deal: God blesses us and takes care of us in infinite ways, but every one of His children is going to face some great times and some horrific times—as well as a whole lot of commonplace times. During a few of those great times we’ll fail to notice His guiding hand—we’ll fail to acknowledge what He’s doing in our lives and thank Him for it. But during a few of those horrific times we’ll wonder why we’ve been dipped down into the depths of despair—we’ll question why and maybe even wonder if God really is watching out for us or not.
As the sun rises every morning, our horses keep their eyes trained on the backdoor of our house. From their stalls in the barn, they anxiously await the sound of that backdoor opening because they know I’ll be coming out to feed them and let them out to pasture. But one day late last fall, I fed them and returned to the house without letting them out—breaking the pattern they’ve become used to. A little while later, when I left out the backdoor to come to church, they neighed and snorted as if to shout, “Hey, you forgot to let us out! We want out! Come out here and let us out! Now!” But as I stayed the course toward my truck, all I could do was to let them know: “You just got to trust me on this one, boys.” No, I don’t think they comprehended my heartfelt explanation to them. But neither did they know what I knew. I knew that it was going to rain all day and then the temperatures were going to drop below freezing after dark. I simply didn’t want them to get soaked all day only to have it freeze on them during the night.
Now God grants me dominion over those horses; the Bible says so in Genesis 1:26. So it’s incumbent upon me to consider and do what’s best for them—to look out for their welfare. But I must also remember and acknowledge that it is God who has dominion over me. Therefore, I must trust that He will consider and do what is best for me—that He will look out for my welfare. Sometimes though, as His dominion and my welfare fall into the same sphere, some wildly mysterious things can start to happen! In His dominion and for my welfare, God often sees fit to prod my patience, to challenge my convictions, to stretch my strength, to appraise my affections, to scrutinize my self-control, to check my commitments, and yes, even to test and try my trust in Him. And no, I don’t always understand why—most of the time I don’t understand why! There’s so much I don’t know—so much I can’t explain. But this much I do know: I cannot know what God knows! And so it is by faith that I must trust that in His infinite and divine love, He knows what is best.
That’s the kind of faith and trust the apostle Paul had in His Lord. Realize that one of the greatest longings of Paul’s heart was to go to Rome. The Gospel had reached the great city by various methods. Many Jews who lived there visited Jerusalem for religious festivals, and some of them believed in Jesus and took the message back to their home city. Paul had written a lengthy letter to the Romans explaining the Gospel in vivid detail and expressing his desire to visit, but roadblocks always seem to crop up keeping him from going. Finally, the opportunity arose; finally, his great desire would be fulfilled. He was on his way—but unfortunately not as a free man. He was one of several prisoners being transported to stand trial before Caesar. An elite guard supervised his every move. Needless to say, this was not the way Paul had wanted to go to Rome.
Imagine that you’d always wanted to go to Disney World, but when the opportunity finally arose you had to go to Orlando as a prisoner, sent there in handcuffs and foot shackles under FBI escort—that the most you’d see of Disney World was through prison bars or on your way to court to stand trial. That’s pretty much the circumstances under which Paul got to go to Rome! And then to add insult to injury, they shipped him and the other prisoners off through the Mediterranean at the wrong time of the year so that their course was thrown off. Then they ran into some gale-force winds, which kicked up into a full-force storm—during which they dumped their cargo and gear to lighten the ship. Then after two weeks wildly adrift in the sea—and not eating and not having seen either the sun or the stars—it was Paul who urged the sailors to eat and who gave thanks for the food! That was the day before the ship hit a reef and began breaking apart, by the way. Then after everyone either swam or drifted ashore to the island of Malta, a venomous snake latched onto Paul’s hand! All on this glorious, long-anticipated trip to Rome! (Is any of this beginning to sound remotely like the way your life has been going lately?)
Yet in the midst of Paul’s trials and tribulations, there’s one thing I notice about him and one thing I notice about God. First, the thing about Paul: No matter what his circumstances, at the root of Paul’s character was a humble and abiding attitude of thankfulness. I mean, they haven’t eaten for two weeks because of being sick to death on wave-battering seas, and yet Paul stopped to give thanks for the meager meal they were about to eat! In such bad times, would we have done that? And then finally on the Appian Way, the oldest, straightest, and most perfectly made of all Roman roads, still yet 43 miles from Rome, some Christian brothers and sisters come out to greet him, and the first thing he did was—again—thank God! In such good times, would we have done that? Oh that we would develop this humble and abiding attitude of gratitude in our lives—no matter what our circumstances!
Now the thing about God: God won’t put on us more than we can stand; and He’ll always be there to provide the reprieve and relief—someway, somehow—just when He knows we need it the most. It wasn’t like God didn’t know all that Paul had been through. No doubt, God used the judgment error and the gale-force winds and the storm and the shipwreck and the snakebite to work out His purposes not only in the apostle Paul but in the rest of the world as well. But God also knew when his servant was completely drained and needed a break. So as a part of His plan, some of the believers from Rome who heard Paul was on his way traveled as far as 43 miles south just to meet up with him on the road—a sacrificial expression of kindness and of warmth. Imagine Paul being led up the Appian Way when he raised his head, looked to the north, and saw a group of believers waving arms of greeting and shouting phrases of welcome! Though they could have welcomed him when he arrived in Rome, they made the considerable journey to meet him on the way, and that kind of gesture lifted his spirits. At the sight of these brothers and sisters—whom he’d never met in person before—Paul thanked God and was encouraged. God knows when you need encouragement the most, and one way or another He’ll be sure to get the right person on your path to encourage you.
But herein lies another way God works: Might you be the person to bring encouragement to the discouraged? Yes, Paul thanked God and was so encouraged to see fellow Christians coming down the road. But I have a feeling that because Paul had put himself in the way of the Lord, these Roman believers were thanking God and being encouraged as well. It’s one of those persistent principles you’ll find throughout the Bible: You receive back what you give away. Give away encouragement, and encouragement will come back to you; give away compassion, and compassion will come back to you; give a listening ear, and a listening ear will become available to you. But the negative converse of this principle is also true: Give away bitterness, and bitterness will come back to you; give away hatefulness, and hatefulness will come back to you; give judgment, and judgment will next be knocking at your door. Galatians 6:7 sums it up: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
What we see vividly illustrated here is the mysterious providence of God as He works out His purposes smack-dab in the middle of the misfortunes we all face. Sure, Christ can still every storm; but He doesn’t immunize us from problems that others encounter. Sometimes He miraculously delivers us from such situations, while at other times he gives us courage to endure natural and other kinds of disasters. We should thank Him for performing miracles, but we should also thank Him for His sufficient grace that provides endurance in the midst of our storms.
So thank Him when you understand what He’s doing—when things seem to be going so well. But don’t forget to thank Him when it’s worlds beyond your understanding what He’s doing—when you even question whether or not He still loves you and is looking out for you. Yes, He still loves you; yes, He’s still looking out for you. He’s there in the good times and the commonplace times and the bad times. Hold His hand in all times. And when you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.
Let us pray: Lord, we thank You for the feast and the famine. We thank You for the calm and the storm. We thank You for the relief and the struggle. We thank You for the good times and the commonplace times and yes, even the bad times. Strengthen our faith in all the times You see fit for us to face. And grow within us an ever more humble and abiding attitude of thankfulness. In Your holy name.
Acts 28:11-16
The family sat around the breakfast table, and as was the custom, the father returned thanks and asked God’s blessing on the food. But immediately after, as was also his habit, he began grumbling about the hard times, the poor quality of the food he was forced to eat, and the way it was cooked. This time though his little daughter interrupted him: “Daddy, did God hear what you said when you were giving thanks?” “Sure He did,” the father replied with the confident air of an instructor.
“And did God hear what you said about the bacon and the biscuits and the coffee?” she asked. “Yes,” the father answered cautiously. A few seconds passed before his daughter then asked, “Daddy, which do you think God believes?”
Here’s the deal: God blesses us and takes care of us in infinite ways, but every one of His children is going to face some great times and some horrific times—as well as a whole lot of commonplace times. During a few of those great times we’ll fail to notice His guiding hand—we’ll fail to acknowledge what He’s doing in our lives and thank Him for it. But during a few of those horrific times we’ll wonder why we’ve been dipped down into the depths of despair—we’ll question why and maybe even wonder if God really is watching out for us or not.
As the sun rises every morning, our horses keep their eyes trained on the backdoor of our house. From their stalls in the barn, they anxiously await the sound of that backdoor opening because they know I’ll be coming out to feed them and let them out to pasture. But one day late last fall, I fed them and returned to the house without letting them out—breaking the pattern they’ve become used to. A little while later, when I left out the backdoor to come to church, they neighed and snorted as if to shout, “Hey, you forgot to let us out! We want out! Come out here and let us out! Now!” But as I stayed the course toward my truck, all I could do was to let them know: “You just got to trust me on this one, boys.” No, I don’t think they comprehended my heartfelt explanation to them. But neither did they know what I knew. I knew that it was going to rain all day and then the temperatures were going to drop below freezing after dark. I simply didn’t want them to get soaked all day only to have it freeze on them during the night.
Now God grants me dominion over those horses; the Bible says so in Genesis 1:26. So it’s incumbent upon me to consider and do what’s best for them—to look out for their welfare. But I must also remember and acknowledge that it is God who has dominion over me. Therefore, I must trust that He will consider and do what is best for me—that He will look out for my welfare. Sometimes though, as His dominion and my welfare fall into the same sphere, some wildly mysterious things can start to happen! In His dominion and for my welfare, God often sees fit to prod my patience, to challenge my convictions, to stretch my strength, to appraise my affections, to scrutinize my self-control, to check my commitments, and yes, even to test and try my trust in Him. And no, I don’t always understand why—most of the time I don’t understand why! There’s so much I don’t know—so much I can’t explain. But this much I do know: I cannot know what God knows! And so it is by faith that I must trust that in His infinite and divine love, He knows what is best.
That’s the kind of faith and trust the apostle Paul had in His Lord. Realize that one of the greatest longings of Paul’s heart was to go to Rome. The Gospel had reached the great city by various methods. Many Jews who lived there visited Jerusalem for religious festivals, and some of them believed in Jesus and took the message back to their home city. Paul had written a lengthy letter to the Romans explaining the Gospel in vivid detail and expressing his desire to visit, but roadblocks always seem to crop up keeping him from going. Finally, the opportunity arose; finally, his great desire would be fulfilled. He was on his way—but unfortunately not as a free man. He was one of several prisoners being transported to stand trial before Caesar. An elite guard supervised his every move. Needless to say, this was not the way Paul had wanted to go to Rome.
Imagine that you’d always wanted to go to Disney World, but when the opportunity finally arose you had to go to Orlando as a prisoner, sent there in handcuffs and foot shackles under FBI escort—that the most you’d see of Disney World was through prison bars or on your way to court to stand trial. That’s pretty much the circumstances under which Paul got to go to Rome! And then to add insult to injury, they shipped him and the other prisoners off through the Mediterranean at the wrong time of the year so that their course was thrown off. Then they ran into some gale-force winds, which kicked up into a full-force storm—during which they dumped their cargo and gear to lighten the ship. Then after two weeks wildly adrift in the sea—and not eating and not having seen either the sun or the stars—it was Paul who urged the sailors to eat and who gave thanks for the food! That was the day before the ship hit a reef and began breaking apart, by the way. Then after everyone either swam or drifted ashore to the island of Malta, a venomous snake latched onto Paul’s hand! All on this glorious, long-anticipated trip to Rome! (Is any of this beginning to sound remotely like the way your life has been going lately?)
Yet in the midst of Paul’s trials and tribulations, there’s one thing I notice about him and one thing I notice about God. First, the thing about Paul: No matter what his circumstances, at the root of Paul’s character was a humble and abiding attitude of thankfulness. I mean, they haven’t eaten for two weeks because of being sick to death on wave-battering seas, and yet Paul stopped to give thanks for the meager meal they were about to eat! In such bad times, would we have done that? And then finally on the Appian Way, the oldest, straightest, and most perfectly made of all Roman roads, still yet 43 miles from Rome, some Christian brothers and sisters come out to greet him, and the first thing he did was—again—thank God! In such good times, would we have done that? Oh that we would develop this humble and abiding attitude of gratitude in our lives—no matter what our circumstances!
Now the thing about God: God won’t put on us more than we can stand; and He’ll always be there to provide the reprieve and relief—someway, somehow—just when He knows we need it the most. It wasn’t like God didn’t know all that Paul had been through. No doubt, God used the judgment error and the gale-force winds and the storm and the shipwreck and the snakebite to work out His purposes not only in the apostle Paul but in the rest of the world as well. But God also knew when his servant was completely drained and needed a break. So as a part of His plan, some of the believers from Rome who heard Paul was on his way traveled as far as 43 miles south just to meet up with him on the road—a sacrificial expression of kindness and of warmth. Imagine Paul being led up the Appian Way when he raised his head, looked to the north, and saw a group of believers waving arms of greeting and shouting phrases of welcome! Though they could have welcomed him when he arrived in Rome, they made the considerable journey to meet him on the way, and that kind of gesture lifted his spirits. At the sight of these brothers and sisters—whom he’d never met in person before—Paul thanked God and was encouraged. God knows when you need encouragement the most, and one way or another He’ll be sure to get the right person on your path to encourage you.
But herein lies another way God works: Might you be the person to bring encouragement to the discouraged? Yes, Paul thanked God and was so encouraged to see fellow Christians coming down the road. But I have a feeling that because Paul had put himself in the way of the Lord, these Roman believers were thanking God and being encouraged as well. It’s one of those persistent principles you’ll find throughout the Bible: You receive back what you give away. Give away encouragement, and encouragement will come back to you; give away compassion, and compassion will come back to you; give a listening ear, and a listening ear will become available to you. But the negative converse of this principle is also true: Give away bitterness, and bitterness will come back to you; give away hatefulness, and hatefulness will come back to you; give judgment, and judgment will next be knocking at your door. Galatians 6:7 sums it up: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
What we see vividly illustrated here is the mysterious providence of God as He works out His purposes smack-dab in the middle of the misfortunes we all face. Sure, Christ can still every storm; but He doesn’t immunize us from problems that others encounter. Sometimes He miraculously delivers us from such situations, while at other times he gives us courage to endure natural and other kinds of disasters. We should thank Him for performing miracles, but we should also thank Him for His sufficient grace that provides endurance in the midst of our storms.
So thank Him when you understand what He’s doing—when things seem to be going so well. But don’t forget to thank Him when it’s worlds beyond your understanding what He’s doing—when you even question whether or not He still loves you and is looking out for you. Yes, He still loves you; yes, He’s still looking out for you. He’s there in the good times and the commonplace times and the bad times. Hold His hand in all times. And when you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.
Let us pray: Lord, we thank You for the feast and the famine. We thank You for the calm and the storm. We thank You for the relief and the struggle. We thank You for the good times and the commonplace times and yes, even the bad times. Strengthen our faith in all the times You see fit for us to face. And grow within us an ever more humble and abiding attitude of thankfulness. In Your holy name.
