Sail Slowly

Daily Reading: Acts 27

 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. (Acts 27.7)

Devotional Thought: The beginning verses of Acts 27 demonstrate a principle we often fail to heed: “If you keep banging your head against a wall, you might want to consider turning around.”  The owners and merchants of the ship on which Paul found himself insisted that the ship set sail – even though the prudent choice was to wait for spring.  Time and again they encountered difficulty.  Time and again they chose to bang their heads against a wall.

While it is true that sometimes we must work through opposition and difficulty as we pursue God’s purpose, it is equally true that God may be trying to tell us something.  I remember when I accepted my first pastoral assignment.  My pastor advised me at the time: “You better look closely at this situation.  It doesn’t look good!”  Then he showed me in the “district journal” how the church had lost more than 75% of its membership in the preceding year.  I took his counsel under consideration, but as Lana and I prayed, we knew that we were to go.  And when we went, we understood why.  The church multiplied, as many people were saved.  There have been other times, however, when we have seen that the headwinds were too great against our ministry, and we decided it would be best for all involved to move to a new assignment.

What resistance are you facing in your spiritual journey and service?  Have you stopped to listen for the voice of God in those difficulties?  Sail slowly and pay attention.

Prayer: Lord, help me not to be so stubborn that I just keep pressing into the wind.  Rather, help me to slow down and check for the "still small voice behind me saying, 'This is the way.  Walk in it.'"  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 79.1-7

"O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us. How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation."