Grace for the Unbeliever Through Me
Scripture Passage: Acts 27:13-26 (NASB)
13 When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, closer to shore.
14 But before very long a violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushed down from the land; 15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind. 16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s boat under control only with difficulty. 17 After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way. 18 The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo; 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.
21 When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve, came to me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on a certain island.”
SUMMARY
Even though Paul warned the centurion that the voyage was going to be disastrous, the centurion, Julius, trusted the advice of the pilot and ship owner more than Paul. They departed from Crete though they were warned about great loss of cargo and ship, and even the danger of people’s lives. They eventually confronted the strong and violent hurricane wind, called Euraquilo, and ended up giving up their cargo and tackle overboard as well as the hope of being saved. However, Paul stood up again and encouraged all the people in the ship that God would graciously save all of them, except the ship, because Paul has a mission in Rome given by God.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Paul, as a prisoner to be escorted to Rome, was on the ship with Roman soldiers and other prisoners. From the viewpoint of other crews on the ship (I presume most of them were not believers), he may have initially seemed like a strange religious prisoner who is zealous for Jesus. That is why the centurion did not initially trust Paul’s warning before they left Crete. When they confronted the violent storm, being in the danger of a shipwreck, they lost hope of being saved after days with no appearance of stars and sun, as with the relentless storm, and not having enough food. However, Paul, who might be initially considered a nobody, stood up again and encouraged and strengthened them with God’s words spoken to him directly. Paul specifically explained to them with authority and trust given by God what would eventually happen: that the ship would be lost though no lives, and they would run aground to a certain island, Malta.
During this natural disaster, God not only saved Paul for His purpose, but graciously also all the 276 people on the ship. Some of them could have died in the accident caused by the storm. However, God showed his absolute and mighty power, grace, mercy, and love saving all the 276 people. When we read the next chapters, through this event, we can see that Paul not only just gained their trust but also safely guided them to an island with authority and wisdom. Even while staying on the island for 3 months, the islanders as well as all the people who were on the ship experienced God’s love and guidance through a miraculous healing. Because of Paul, they received great hospitality from the residents on the island. Paul eventually became a blessing to all the people, an instrument revealing God’s glory, grace and magnificence as well as a witness of Jesus Christ.
According to God’s will, my workplaces have been my training and mission fields to be a genuine Christian. In every new workplace, there were purposes to teach, train, and mold me according to God’s will. However, in addition to God training and disciplining me, I remember that God blessed people who I worked with and he blessed the places where I worked. Whenever I was moved to a different location, there were difficulties that I could barely handle with my own strength and wisdom. People in the new workplace looked exhausted. The relationships were broken with misunderstanding, hatred, and gossip. The metrics evaluating the pharmacy were usually hitting the bottom. I believe that God wanted me to rely on God with love, endurance, forgiveness, and gentleness in the management of the pharmacy and people, instead of relying on worldly wisdom to solve the problems. In the end, there came about refreshment, positive energy, understanding, consideration, and hope among them in the workplace. I experienced that many people received God's blessing physically, financially, mentally, and spiritually. Sometimes, there were situations of crisis which we were not able to handle with our wisdom and strength. When I asked my team to pray together (most of them are not Christians) in such a crisis, we experienced God’s guidance several times, shouting for joy. Outwardly, all the pharmacies where I worked, became top performing places in the districts. It was completely God’s grace!
APPLICATION
Today, I felt that God is grieved because of my heart toward one of my team members. Since the pandemic began, my pharmacy was in chaos due to the extra work from the Covid testing and vaccine. However, by God's grace, my pharmacy has been able to handle the high volume of work well.
Recently, one of my team members began to complain about the high volume of work, and she spread her stress not just to me, but to all the other team workers who are also bearing the same amount of burden. This team member’s complaints, stress and anxiety caused our entire team to be more exhausted than before.
I tried to help the worker by giving her more help, as well as scheduling other well-performing workers on her working days, since I can sacrifice myself by doing more work and helping with technicians’ work. However, her complaints and anxiety were getting worse, influencing our team members negatively.
Even though the situation, called Covid Pandemic, brought a high volume of work, I believe that our team was working in better conditions, with more support, than any other pharmacy in our region. I have tried to help more with this particular team member’s work. In addition, I hired more people by persuading my boss to increase the budget.
I was not happy with the team member’s attitude. Grumbling and anger against the person began to root and sprout in my heart. Even though I did not express my thoughts outwardly, I simply did not want to work with the team member even for a day, because it caused me more stress and exhaustion. I even wished that the worker would retire early, as she had kept grumbling, for the sake of all the other team members.
However, when I meditated on today's Bible verses about how Paul became a blessing to people around him, I realized that God is deeply saddened with me. I was justifying my anger toward the team member from the viewpoint of a worldly perspective and reasons, instead of looking at the situation from the viewpoint of the Father’s heart.
For 2 years in my current workplace, God has been pouring his love and grace to my team, giving the knowledge of God to each one of our team members’ hearts as well as revealing his Glory. All of my team members know that we are protected, guided, and blessed by God through several trials and crises which we experienced, even though most of them are not Christians. I believe that the seed of the Gospel was already planted in some of their hearts, even though it is not shown. God was building me up to be God’s soldier in this place and His kingdom, for the people who I work with because God loves them, and He waits for them to come back to Him.
However, because of my sins, anger against one of my team members and grumbling recently, I felt that my pharmacy is not under His protection and blessing. For the last 2 weeks, I experienced that my pharmacy was in more chaos than usual. I felt that I was much more tired from work. God was warning me that there are sins to be repentant of.
I did not love the team member with the heart of Father, but instead grumbled against the person. I was in danger of removing the seed in the person's heart that has not even sprouted yet. I could have moved God’s blessing and protection away because of my sins.
Why did God save all the 276 people graciously? Even though it is not shown in the Bible, I imagine that the apostle Paul prayed genuinely for them while he was in the ship as a prisoner, not just to save their physical bodies but their souls.
“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you” (Philippians 2:17).
The apostle Paul wanted to be used and consumed as a living sacrifice for the sake of other people. His life was full of delivering the Gospel, revealing Jesus Christ, following His will, being obedient to His Words, and loving God’s children. God was pleased to reveal Jesus in Paul, as mentioned in Galatians 1:16.
I prayed to God for the forgiveness of my sins, purification of my heart, and restoration of my relationship with Him. God loves sinners of this world, but God is not generous with our sins after we become believers because God is holy and righteous. His love is aligned with his character: holiness.
I pray that I can be such a blessing like the apostle Paul to other people around me through absolute obedience to God and genuine prayers for them. I pray that I can be such a person who spreads the gospel through my lips as well as my whole life.
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing my sins and giving me grace and mercy, leading to repentance of my sins and restoration of the relationship with you. As you know, I have been going through a difficult time, not just because of my severe chronic pain, but also severe spiritual attacks. I once thought that I could be a much better follower of Jesus if my physical condition was better. Sometimes, I excused myself for not being obedient to you wholeheartedly, due to my current situation. However, I learned that you make me a true follower of Jesus by weakening me, not depending on my own flesh. I would not pay attention to my current situation, but to your purpose why I am in this workplace and why I have these people around me.
Dear Lord, please lead me into genuine repentance of my sins continuously. Help me to clothe myself with Jesus Christ, leading to holiness and righteousness, and revealing your Light to people around me. Help me to love my co-workers with my whole heart, soul and strength by the power of the Holy Spirit, being a living offering for them. By being obedient to you completely, help me to know you more and more with true joy, which this world cannot give. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
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