To followers of Christ and to those who don't, "happily ever after" will never happen in this world. Believing and obeying Christ will bring blessings, but there will also still be pain and hardships as "His will be done." Case in point.....Paul, author of much of the New Testament.
After his miraculous conversion in Damascus, Paul did not get the girl, run a successful tent-making business, and raise kids that came every Sunday after church for family dinner. Throughout Acts, Paul finds himself traveling the Roman empire sharing the news of Jesus primarily to gentiles, being pursued and persecuted primarily by his fellow Jews, and spending a great deal of time chained up in prisons. These were difficult, but very ordinary (non-miraculous) circumstances that God used to spread His unstoppable gospel message.
In Acts 25-26, Paul was arrested for telling Jews about Jesus, accused by the Pharisees (of which Paul once was) of blasphemy, and spared execution since the Roman leadership found that he had committed nothing deserving death. Paul would have been freed by the Romans if he had not demanded a trial before Caesar for which he was entitled since he was a Roman citizen. Acts 26: 31-32 And when they had gone out, they began talking to one another saying, "This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment. And (King) Agrippa said to (Governor) Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
God had told Paul after his initial beating and arrest that he would be needed in Rome to testify to the truth. Acts 23:11 But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, "Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem so you must testify in Rome also." Using his "Roman citizen" card was Paul's way to get to Rome! God is sovereign, but man is responsible for putting His plan in action.
Acts 27-28 details the horrendous ship ride/ship wreck. As my Bible Study Fellowship study of Acts points out, there were four anchors, all starting with "P" that saved Paul and the crew, and got Paul to Rome.
1. God was present in the storm. After setting sail for Rome, the storms swooped in, much cargo was thrown overboard, and God spoke to Paul. Acts 27:21-25 When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, "Men, you should have followed my advise and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss And yet now I urge you to keep up with courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of God to whom I belong, whom I also serve came to me, 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.' Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on a certain island." God may not speak directly to us as we go through our storms, but we have access to His Holy Word, which assures us that....
2. We are God's possession. Believers belong to God, and He will guide and protect us through our storm filled human lives. The price was very high, the blood of Jesus, but believers are bought, paid for, and will always belong to God. It says so right in Acts 27:23 and is worth repeating....For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I serve, came to me.
3. God keeps all of His promises. As God promised, the ship did eventually ran aground and broke apart, and all 276 people on board did survive. God uses His beloved human possessions to fulfill His promises in ordinary human ways so that His gospel news spreads. Paul's responsibility was to do his part and make this happen as Luke, who was one of the 276 reports. Acts 27:27-32 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land. And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak. But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's (life) boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers "Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved." Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away.
Paul didn't get angry with the buffoons trying to jump ship, but continued on with ordinary human encouragement needed to fulfill God's promise. Acts 27:33-36 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing. Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.
The centurion who was in charge of prisoner Paul also did his human part to fulfill God's promise, perhaps unknowingly. Acts 27:41-44 But they struck a reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow struck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brough safely to land.
4. God has a purpose for all of our storms. But it is so hard to understand why we must suffer! Why not just calm the seas for Paul and crew to have a smooth ride to Rome, God? God strengthened Paul's faith by upholding his promise that all would be saved. And although a number is not provided, it is not hard to fathom that some of the 274 survivors (Luke was already a believer) came to believe in Paul's God. The way the centurion behaved indicates a convert! This would not have happened in a "smooth sail".
Paul's misfortunes that God uses for His purpose continues in Acts. 28. Acts 28:1-6 When they had been brought safely through then we found out that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, "Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live." However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead But after they had waited a long time and seen nothing unusual happen to him they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
Paul remained on Malta for three months, healing people both physically and spiritually. Acts 28:7-10 Now in the neighboring parts of that place were land belonging to the leading man of the island named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery Paul went in to see him and after he prayed he laid his hands on him and healed him. After this happened the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured, They also showed us many honors and when we were about to set sail they supplied us with everything we needed.
Human Paul offered ordinary prayer, God used him to heal miraculously, and Paul made it the rest of the way to Rome without further duress.
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