When God Steps In

The crew fought to direct the ship’s course, but a fierce northeaster drove it out to sea. Strengthening the hull with thick ropes, they let the ship run with the winds. Finally, they lowered an anchor, hoping to keep the vessel from being stuck on a sandbar and battered to fragments by the violent waves.

The storm continued through the night and into the next day … and fear set in. Seizing cargo, equipment and anything else they could lay their hands on, the crew threw it all overboard. They could do no more, and the storm raged on until all hope was gone.

Then God stepped in.

He sent a messenger to Paul, a prisoner aboard the ship bound for Rome, to tell him what they could expect. “Take courage!” Paul told the others. “None of you will lose your lives” (Acts 27:22, New Living Translation. Yes, they would be shipwrecked, but all would survive.

Sixteen days after the storm began, the ship ran aground near Malta. Waves broke their vessel apart, but all 276 souls aboard made it safely to shore.

Each of us has faced–or will one day face–at least one storm that will batter us to our knees. Its unrelenting nature may drive us to the place where we wonder if any hope is left.

The amazing thing is that when we finally turn to God in prayer and put our hope in his goodness to bring about the needed change, he steps in. Maybe not the way we prayed or expected, but at the right time and in the best way possible for all concerned. In the meantime, we have no reason to lose hope.

Focus: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” ~ Romans 15:13, New Living Translation.

What about you? In what relentless storm in life have you found God faithful to step in at the right time and the best possible way?