When Morning Comes…
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"33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. 39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. 42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called
Introduction
Paul’s four “Dark Nights of the Soul”:
· The night of frustration and apparent fruitlessness (
· The night of fear and emotional depletion (
· The night of controversy and self-examination (
· The night of extreme circumstances (
Today, we are going to deal with “the morning after,” Paul’s “Malta moment” after a night so extreme that 27:20 says, “…we finally gave up all hope of being saved…” and vs. 29 says they, “…prayed for daylight.”
Through that crisis, God had actually positioned Paul for even greater leadership as he experienced increasing, God-given favor and influence with those sailing on the ship with him. He had started the voyage as a prisoner, but he became a trusted counselor, then the de facto leader…!)
How and why did this happen?
- He distilled wisdom from experience. (cf. “see” in vs. 27:10 literally means “to perceive from past experience…”)[1] Wisdom is not the automatic byproduct of experience. “There is no fool like an old fool.” (Vera Brand)
- He heard a fresh word from God. This caused him to know what others did not know! I believe it came as a result of seeking God in his storm.
- He had learned to believe when others doubted. (This empowered him to do what others did not do, to lead when others followed!)
- He cared deeply about other people and knew that the outcome of his life directly impacted them. “God has given me the lives of all who sail with me…so keep up your courage…for I have faith in God that it will happen just as the angel told me…” (27:24-25)
- He understood the power of his own example. He took bread, gave thanks, and ate it “…in front of them all…” (27:35), encouraging the others to do the same, saying, “ …you will need it to survive…” (27:34)
“There are times when one dedicated believer can change the whole atmosphere of a situation simply by trusting God and making that faith visible.[2]” (Warren Wiersbe)
Through this process, Paul developed such credibility with the centurion and the captain that they actually cut the lifeboat loose (27:32) and saved Paul’s life when the soldiers wanted to kill him and the other prisoners…! (27:43)
God can do for you what He did for Paul. He can not only protect you in your crisis, but He can use it to prepare, promote, and prosper you if you will do what Paul did!
A crisis around you sets the stage for God’s gifts to manifest through you…! Crises do not make a person, they merely reveal who a person really is!
“The darker the night, the nearer the dawn…” (Vera Brand)
As you reach out to the Lord, He will bring you through whatever night season you are in. He wants to prepare you for what will follow and He wants to position you to move forward in faith into your future through the experience of the Apostle Paul.
When darkness gives way to dawn, what will morning look like?
When Paul crawled up out of the surf following his “Night of Extreme Circumstances,” his “morning” was shaped by five realities…
1. He had experienced unnecessary loss.
· This was true with Jonah (merited) and it was true with Paul (unmerited).
· Once on shore, Paul never looked back…! There isn’t any record that he ever reprimanded the captain or the centurion or ever spoke of their unwise decision again, even though the consequences on his own life had been dramatic and very far-reaching.
· “Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve … ain’t…!” (Walter Fletcher)
· Three of the truest measures of your character are those things that you are willing to forgive, forsake, and forget…!
" 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," (Philippians 3:12-13 NIV)
" 12 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. 13 Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. 14 I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. " (Philippians 3:12-14 The Message)
You cannot grasp the future while you are holding onto the past…!
Ø Hold out your hand and Say it aloud with me: “Lord, I choose to let go of my past so I can take hold of my future…”
2. He was in an unfamiliar place.
We all like familiar places.
The older we get, the more this is true. The more we travel, the more this is true.
Even Paul, who felt compelled by his calling to go to new places, returned periodically to those places he had already been, to those places where he had “connected” in a special way in his church-planting ministry (compare his successive missionary journeys.)
Returning to familiar places is important in order to maintain long-term relationships, but sometimes God deliberately takes us places we have never been before.
God sometimes takes where we have never gone, so He can show us what we have never seen so He can teach us what we have never known so we can become what we have never been in order to do what we have never done.
Are you somewhere you never thought you would be?
Are you in some segment or season or circumstance of life you thought would be a part of your journey or that you thought should be a part of your journey, that is now gone forever?
- Have you been displaced by Katrina or some other natural disaster?
- Have you fled a civil war in your home nation or moved to
- Are you a spouse suddenly living in an achingly empty house?
- Are you a homeowner who cannot pay your mortgage and now must move to another neighborhood? (Last year was the first since WWII when the average American home lost value! Our economy has put many people in an unexpected place.)
- Are you a student whose parents have moved or who through some other circumstance has been forced to transfer to another school?
Wherever you are, however you got there, God wants to bless you and teach you and use you to bring blessing to others…!
In order for this to happen, you must choose to move from fear to faith. You must shift your focus from your loss in the past to your life in the present. You must life your eyes from your own needs and start looking at the needs of those around you.
Ø touch your eyes with the tips of your fingers and say aloud with me, “Lord, open my eyes by your spirit and help me to see what you want me to see in my surroundings.”
3. He had been thrust into an unexpected season.
Paul was a man who understood the value of time.[i]
"5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5 NIV)
"5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." (Colossians 4:5 KJV)
"7 I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits." (1 Corinthians 16:7 NIV)
Time that would have been productive for praying, reflecting, writing, and ministering had they wintered where they should have was lost forever. Now, Paul found himself in an unfamiliar place, lacking the scrolls and parchments he both cherished and needed in order to focus on his work. It looked like an entire season of time had been lost and his time here on
Because Paul refused to allow bitterness to infiltrate his heart or to develop a critical or jealous spirit, God redeemed his time on
- God opened a very fruitful door of ministry for him there.
- God used that time to give him a testimony that has encouraged, comforted, and inspired many, many others…!
- You not only overcome persecution and temptation through “…the word of your testimony…(Rev. 12:11)” but you can also overcome the guilt of the failures of your past by bringing benefit to others through your story…!
Other examples from Paul’s life show how he was able to redeem what others would have considered to be lost or wasted time.
- He wrote many of his best epistles while in prison.
" 9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to
- He preached one of his greatest sermons while he was waiting in
" 16 While Paul was waiting for them in
Many times, the “little” thing that you do while you are “waiting” for the “big” thing to happen turns out to be the “big” thing…!
Are you going through some season in life that you did not see coming?
- A childless woman facing menopause?
- A hard-working career person facing postponed retirement?
- A grown child caring for a memory afflicted parent?
- A single person pushing back the panic that comes with the terrifying thought that you grappling with the sinking feeling that you may always live alone?
What God did for Paul He will do for you…!
Ø Say with me now, “Lord, give me the grace to walk through this season i am in and help me to use it for your glory.”
4. He was surrounded by an unknown people.
· He did not have any friends, Christian brothers and sisters, or even acquaintances to care for him on
· His reputation was in tatters (“…when the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live…’” Acts 28:4)
God used this opportunity to connect Paul with new people.
New relationships rarely feel as comfortable or as valuable as old relationships.
Do not make the common, yet tragic, mistake of allowing your relational loss to rob you of your relational future…!
His new relationships brought new opportunities for ministry and for prosperity.
Ø Say it out loud with me, “Lord, I commit to you today that I will open my heart and my life to the new relationships you want to bring me in this new place and this new season of my life.”
5. He was facing unusual opportunities.
· Unusual witness (both to Maltans and to us…!)
· Unusual favor (“…islanders showed us unusual kindness…built a fire and welcomed us…”)
· Unusual miracles (“…Publius, the chief official of the island…father was
· Unusual provision
“Green park bench testimony in Paris” (Word from God – “I am far too wise and I love you far too much than to meet your needs today through means that tomorrow would hinder you from doing my will!”)
Car story in the 16th (Following theft of “Ford,” God gave us a “ Volkswagen” – the car I wanted from the beginning…!)
Invitation
1. Do you need God to help you “make it through the night until morning comes” or to “maximize your
2. Do you need to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ? There is no better time to do that than during a “dark night of the soul” or as the morning breaks following a stormy season in your life!
Maybe you have just gone through a divorce or you have just got out of jail or you have just lost a job or you have just started a new career or a new relationship. Right now is the right time to serve the Lord!
[1]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, "An Exposition of the New Testament Comprising the Entire 'BE' Series"--Jkt. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989), Ac 27:1.
[2]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, "An Exposition of the New Testament Comprising the Entire 'BE' Series"--Jkt. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989), Ac 27:21.
[i] "6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6 NIV)
"11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." (Romans 13:11 NIV)
"5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." (1 Corinthians 4:5 NIV)
"29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;" (1 Corinthians 7:29 NIV)
"7 I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits." (1 Corinthians 16:7 NIV)
"4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law," (Galatians 4:4 NIV)
"9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9 NIV)
"7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." (Ephesians 1:7-10 NIV)
"5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6 NIV)
"13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:13-16 NIV)
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