O Holy Night
2002 Advent Devotion Collection
December 18
READING: Acts 27
For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.' Acts 27.23-24
Luke wrote this passage about Paul's
trip to Rome. The sailors on Paul's ship left for Rome before the Day
of Atonement, the last day they were allowed to sail across the Mediterranean,
without Paul's consent. In this passage, Paul's ship is in a huge storm,
and he is comforting the sailors that God will save everyone on board.
Don't you just really dislike long
car trips? Especially when you are driving through the scenic cornfields
in Illinois, where the scenery is just the same thing over and over again.
Paul was on a really, really long boat ride from Israel to Rome, which
took Paul almost a half a year to finish because they were swept up into
a huge storm and crashed into an island. The big storm lasted two weeks
and the sailors had no control of the ship. They could have gone in a
complete circle, back to Israel, for all they knew, but God guided them
to a small remote island, Malta, near Italy. What is even more miraculous,
is that a man happened to be sailing by Malta, and he picked them up and
took Paul and the others to their destination, Italy.
Now, not all problems will resolve like that, but you should still pray to God that He will resolve them in the way He sees fit. God will be always in your life, even though storms may occur. While we are in a long 'storm', we tend to think that no one is there for us, but God always is there to comfort us. This Advent season would be a good time to go to church and share your burdens with Him.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, please let us know that when the chips are down, we can always turn to You for help, just like You helped us by sending Your Son Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, so that we may be with you. Amen. -- Jared C.
Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
(217) 428-4336