“But before very long there rushed down from the land a violet wind, called Euraquilo (a northeaster); and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along.” - Acts 27:14-15
Boy, can I ever relate to that. Let’s review the scenario and see if any of this rings true. I’m over here, enjoying my nice little life, tootling along in my nice little boat, enjoying the nice little scenery. Can’t you see me waving? It’s a beautiful day for a sail. The suns rays glean brightly off the calm waters. The steady winds are strong enough to keep our little ship moving, but gentle enough to be a relaxing ride. Life is good. But before very long…
And yes, that is the exact quote of Paul’s from the above verse in Acts. ”But before very long…” Awesome. I always hate when I get to that part of my story. “But…” For Paul, this was something he saw coming and he had actually warned the crew of the impending storm. But most of the time in my life, I don’t realize the great storm that lies just ahead. The waters are calm, why should I worry? The sun is out, there is nothing to fear. Right. True. Exactly. And that is exactly how Scripture calls us to live. We are not called to live in fear.
Isaiah 46: 3+4 says this, “Listen…You whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” We don’t have to live in fear and hesitation about our future. Our future is in God’s hands and he promises us that He will remain with us through ever moment, for all of time. It is a good thing for us to live in hope and expectation, and not in fear of what tomorrow might bring. God’s got the future part fully under control.
However, since this is how we are called to live, there will be a point in our lives in which something will inevitably come up and knock us off our figurative rocker. One minute,peaceful porch, white cushy rocking chair and the next, WHAM! We find ourselves on our tuckus unsure of what put us there in the first place. We never saw it coming.
When I read this opening verse today, what caught my eye was the fact that they gave way to the storm. I appreciated that the verse said the ship was caught in a storm and could not face the winds. They simply were not strong enough. However, the fact that they simply gave way to it sort of caught me off guard. I will confess I found myself thinking, “Really? Dude, do something. Are you seriously just going to stand there and be driven in whatever direction the storm decides to take you in?”
Actually, absolutely that was what they were going to do. And rightfully so. I mean honestly, what else were they supposed to do? In all honest, here were about their only options:
a) Tell the Nor’Easter to knock it off and go away (Well, clearly that one’s out unless your Jesus.)
b) Try to sail in a direction the winds won’t allow (Let me know how that one works out for you.)
c) Heck with the category four hurricane winds. Your paddling your way out of this baby! (Again, let me know how that works out for you. And when that fails, and you find yourself exhausted because you were fighting winds a thousand times bigger and stronger than you, with your measly little paddle yet to boot… don’t come to me for sympathy.
d) Or… you throw down your anchor and ride out the storm.
When you think about it that way, the decision seems rather obvious now, doesn’t it? However, put those options in context of your boating situation I have mentioned above and coming to the same conclusion is suddenly not that simple. Unless you do some serious soul searching and remember that verse similar to the one from Isaiah pretty rapidly, I am quickly seeing paddles in our near futures. Am I correct?
Well, it was paddle week for me. And to sum up about how well that worked for me here’s one word: Fail. Epic fail. (Okay, maybe two. ”Epic fail” is far more accurate in this context.) Epic…
Now, since I can’t tell the storms of my life to just “knock if off”, and I can’t really walk away from my life that is, well, my life; the only thing I am left with is what we had previously concluded was our best option in the first place- option d. I simply must throw down my anchor and ride out the storm.
Acts 27:17b continues the story and says that the ships crew finally came to the same conclusion that I did, “They let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along.”
There is a key phrase here though, and I don’t want you to miss it. Paul said “In this way,” after throwing down their anchor, then they were prepared to ride out the storm. God is not calling us to say, “Oh shoot. Look an unexpected storm. Let me sit here and hope I don’t die.” Nope. Not at all. In fact, bad idea. We are called to first throw down our anchors, then ride out the storm.
Hebrews 6:19-20b says “This is the hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us.” Jesus is our anchor. In Him we have hope, sure and steadfast. A steadfast Jesus is the only Jesus there is. He knows no other quality. Jesus is unwavering and determined in purpose. He is our hope. He is our anchor.
The Lord says to us, “Be still and know that I am God, My bible (NASB) says “Cease Striving and know that I am God.” Basically, stop paddling. Cast our your anchor and find hope in knowing that the Lord, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the One who has the power to raise the dead and to calm the raging winds, it is HE who says to you, BE STILL.
Gotta be honest, sometimes don’t like it. And sometimes I don’t like it at all. Sometimes I am scared to be still. What if I miss something? What if I neglect to do something in this clearly, potentially life altering circumstance, and miss the way in which God wants me to act. I can tell you, I have yet to come across anyone that has thrown down their “anchor” and then was “still,” to only find that they missed their calling. If at some point there is action God wants you to take, don’t you think He will make it abundantly clear to you exactly what that looks like? And if your looking solely to Him, do you really think He would possibly ever let you miss what it is He wants?
I know myself and my personality. I know my human nature. My human natures tells me that if I don’t actually do something, even if it seems futile, I will certainly be overtaken. It’s better to do something than to do nothing. That is just not true. Why? Because I know Jesus. Jesus is the one steering this ship and my Jesus is steadfast.
All of this is clearly summed up in one verse in the Bible that God spoke to his people. The Israelites found themselves in their own storm, blindside and completely unprepared. Following God’s miraculous intervention in their escape from slavery in Egypt, Pharaoh realized he has just lost hundreds of thousands of slaves, so he begins to pursue them.
Needless to say, the Israelites freak out. (Understandably when I consider my own response when I find myself in similar situations.) Basically, the Israelites were getting out their figurative paddles. But then God says to them:
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.”
Hm, that’s it, huh? You know, there is something so freeing about that statement. As hard and as much as a choice the intentional act of “being still” really is, how great is it to know you don’t have to have to save yourself from the catastrophe at hand. Furthermore, you certainly don’t have to have the answer to know how to get yourself out of it. And in those moments I am at my weakest because I have spent every bit of energy I have with my tiny little paddle trying to row my way out of a storm equivalent to that of Hurricane Katrina, I have never been more content to hear the words “My child, it is I who fight for you; you need only be still.”
Okay Lord, I’m putting my paddle down now.