All Hope Is Not Lost
“And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” (Acts 27:18-25)
Today’s Morsel: One of the things about serving God is that He causes it to rain on the just and unjust. Sometimes other’s lack of obedience to God’s words can affect us as well. Throughout scripture we see that many suffered for the lack of other’s obedience. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and their families were lost because of their rebellion (Numbers 16). Achan and his family were lost because of his disobedience. And in today’s passage, we see 276 souls aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean, in a storm, and their lives in jeopardy because the captain listened to the owner of the ship instead of Paul, the man of God. And Luke writes, And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. When we are outside of the will of God, it will always cause us to feel that hope is lost when we are in a life threating situation. But when we are in His will, all hope is never lost for us. As the writer of Hebrews admonishes: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:35-39 The woman with the issue of blood never lost hope. And neither did Job. Hope is never lost for the children of God. So be of good cheer, He that will come, will come. Simply stay obedient to His word.
Sing: I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stain with sin, sinking to rise no more; but the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, from the water He lifted me, now safe am I.
Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help, love lifted me. Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help, love, lifted, me.
Thought For Today: “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:18-19)
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