When things get complicated, the human urge is to jump ship. A scene from Paul’s missionary travels presents an alternative
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Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” -Acts 27:31 (NET)
Grace has been in a difficult situation for months now. She’s single and lonely, working a demanding job, and far from her family. Anxiety and its relatives are her only regular (unwelcomed) companions, making the space in her head way too crowded.
There have been several moments when Grace was ready to just ditch the whole thing, to quit and go home. Things were just too difficult.
But then again, she wasn’t sure. Was that the right thing? Should she leave it all behind, or should she suck it up and stay aboard?
In a manner of speaking, Grace is sailing on a vessel we could call the Hardship. And the Hardship is, well, very hard. It’s not something you sign up for or put down a deposit. It’s not a luxury cruise. It’s a voyage that tests you and stretches your faith to its limits.
And one of the things that makes the Hardship especially difficult is not knowing how long you’re going to be on it. When you can’t see the shoreline in the distance, it feels impossible.
Paul’s Mediterranean Cruise
The Apostle Paul was in a situation like this once. In his missionary endeavors, he found himself on a literal Hardship. He was in the custody of the Roman Empire, having been falsely accused of causing trouble. Of course, all he had done was share the Gospel of Jesus.
But since Paul was a Roman citizen, he asserted his rights to a legal trial. And to get that, he had to go all the way to Rome – by boat.
And that’s when things got hard.
A massive storm descended upon them while they were at sea. It was so powerful they gave up fighting it and let the winds drive them for days through the Mediterranean.
Eventually, in a panic state, Paul’s shipmates thought of jumping out into a smaller lifeboat, but he warned them that it would be to their own peril. For the time being, they needed to stay with the ship.
They listened, and they survived.
If we read on in the story, we see that Paul and the crew did have to abandon the boat later, when it got stuck on the rocks. But in the meantime, they needed to hold fast and stay put.
The same applies in our own metaphorical storms at sea. Sometimes we need to hold fast and stay put. When we find ourselves in those impossible situations, whether it’s a relationship that’s in trouble, big problems at work, or it’s just our own anxious thoughts and emotions swirling around and turning us upside down, our challenge is to refuse the impulse to make a hasty escape. This is a normal tendency, but acting on it tends to just make matters worse.
We’re better off to stay with the ship, to trust God and hang on. Sure, there may be a time to make a proper exit, but it is usually not in the middle of the storm.
As for Grace, she rode out the storm and is happy to be getting a break from the Hardship for a while. Now that things have calmed down a bit, she’s glad she didn’t bail when things were hard. As promised, there was something good in the hard.
And the adventure continues.
It’s a new day with God. Run with it.
