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Refreshment in Refuge

    by Gina Burgess

Free will or sails?
Date Posted: June 16, 2013

Have you ever noticed that without wind a sail boat just drifts? We can row, but how much energy that takes, and it takes so long to go a short distance. We have motors on boats that help us to get from point A to point B, but what happens when the guide wire breaks?

My sister and I were water skiing at Lake Bruin (gorgeous place in Northeast Louisiana) with several friends in an older, but refurbished wooden boat. Actually, I was just along for the ride because I had sprained my ankle badly the day before. We dropped off a few friends at their camp and were about to go back to our camp. My friend put the thing in gear to back away from the dock, and the guide wire broke. This caused the boat’s aft to swing around, with the bow pointed up the stairs.

The boat slanted, and in his haste to get it out of gear, Richie over compensated past the idle into half throttle forward. (If you don’t know, in boat motors the gear shift is just a lever with all the way forward being full throttle, all the way back is full throttle reverse, and there is a notch in the middle which sets the motor to idle.) Richie over shot the idle, and up the stairs the boat goes.

The friends on the dock scattered back up the stairs. Friends in the boat jumped for safety into the water or scrambling up onto the dock. There I was not being able to go anywhere with my sprained ankle. But, my dear friend Jimmy leaned over the railing, grabbed my hand and hauled me up out of the boat and over the railing before the boat tipped over the side of the stairs and sank out of sight in about 10 feet of water.

In a man-made boat with man-made propulsion things can go terribly wrong. I am not saying nothing goes wrong in a sail boat. Acts 27 indicates they can go terribly wrong.

Numerous times Paul was in a boat and set sail to go somewhere. In Acts 13, “Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.” In Acts 16:11, “So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis.” In Acts 18 Paul “took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria.” In Acts 21, Paul set a straight course for Cos, then the next day went to Rhodes, and from there went to Patara. Then we get to chapter 27, which to me is an exceptionally exciting chapter in the New Testament. Storms and shipwreck, snake bites, and healing the sick, and not one life in it all was lost: Amazing adversity, and not one life lost.

Paul perceived the arduous sea journey would end with much loss of cargo and life if they sailed out of Fair Havens (Acts 27:10), and he advised them to stop. The pilot and the owner of the ship said, “Oh no! Everything is fine, we will be perfectly safe. We must somehow reach Phoenix in Crete to winter there, because we certainly cannot winter here.” Fair Haven’s harbor was not sheltered from the fierce winter winds. Paul’s concern was proved valid. A sudden Nor’easter blew down from Crete and they had to “give way to it” meaning the boat was tossed about in heavy seas and the storm raged for many days. They had to jettison the cargo, even the ship’s tackle, but first they undergirded the ship. Today this is called frapping where cable or strong rope is wrapped around the hull to keep it from opening to the sea. None of this would have been necessary if they had stayed at port in Myra (Acts 27:5). But, if the centurion and Paul had stayed in Myra, then not only the ship from Alexandria sailing to Italy would have been lost, but most likely many lives. Human choice headed men for disaster through misguided confidence. God’s intervention saved their lives.

Paul’s advice to stay in Fair Havens was ignored, but remembered. For when the crew lowered the boat to escape (Acts 27:30-32) Paul told the centurion and the soldiers that if the sailors left the boat they could not be saved. Paul urged food and offered encouraging words in the promise that not a hair would perish from the head of any one (Acts 27:34). His faith in God and his testimony to His promise gave much needed soothing balm to weary souls.

I do not believe humans are in a rudderless boat that is at the mercy of wind and water. I do believe Christians are in a boat with access to sails, oars, and the wind is the Holy Spirit. How we use the sails and oars determine which direction we go, and that is through deliberate choice to be pushed (guided) by the Holy Spirit with fully extended sails. I believe in God’s gift of Free Will to humans. Of course environment does influence choices. Some studies have shown teenagers who have grown up inside gangland culture have deliberately chosen to get out of that lifestyle, while others wallow in it.

Our choices do result in consequences. As Christians we listen to sound advice by men of wisdom, and we can make sound choices. The centurion listened to the experienced pilot and captain, but disregarded the wisdom of ages that sailing in the Mediterranean in winter was extremely foolhardy. Paul was at the mercy of the centurion’s decision for he was a prisoner. God uses us as His voice of comfort to those who are foolhardy or who are lost. The wise person seeks out the counsel of the wise that aligns with ageless wisdom, but most importantly aligns with God’s Word, and His plans.

It was in God’s plan all along that the captain make the foolhardy choice to sail in winter, lose all the cargo and the ship to wreck on the island so that Paul could witness to those there about God’s mercy and grace. No life was lost, and that says a lot toward what God considers important. After all the moth and rust will eat the things of earth, while vast treasures are stored in Heaven.

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Biography Information:

Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.

She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.

If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon

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