The Moment When You Know You Can’t Avoid a Crisis

Today is the third full day of Paul’s voyage to Rome. Two days before, he had received permission to step ashore at Sidon. Returning to the ship after the sun had gone down, the apostle was refreshed by the Spirit and encouraged to know the local congregation was growing.

He called for Luke this morning, hoping his traveling companion might initiate another conversation with Centurion Julius. Paul wanted to speak with people onboard, not only his fellow prisoners.

So now, Julius arrives, irritated at having to speak to this prisoner once more. “Another request?” he roars. “I permitted you ashore, a privilege beyond what any other prisoner has been granted.”

“Centurion, I want to move around the ship, telling my story to others. I don’t mind being chained to Quintus while I walk around the ship. Will you give me permission?”

“No,” comes the swift answer. “I’m keeping you in chains. At Myra, we’ll board a much larger ship; that’s how we’ll get to Rome.”

Centurion Julius, who showed kindness by letting Paul go ashore, is closed to further interaction. Paul looks around in the almost total darkness. About three years ago, I wrote to the church in Rome, ‘I constantly remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will, the way may be opened for me to come to you.’ Hmm, I never knew that volunteering myself to go to Rome would mean I now end up as a prisoner at the bottom of this ship. God is answering my prayer! I’m on my way to Rome - at Rome’s expense.

Spirit-led Servanthood

Like all of us, Paul faced ministerial crises as seen in Acts 27 and 28. But he lived with an acute awareness of God’s power, including Christ’s resurrection. The apostle kept returning to the Holy Spirit’s power, thus encouraging himself and others.

If you’re passing through a difficult patch right now, please meditate on these words. Let them comfort you, showing what it meant for Paul to live in the Spirit. “Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit if the Spirit of God lives in you.” Rom 8:5-9

When facing crises during five decades of gospel ministry, I found comfort in Paul’s emphasis on the Holy Spirit. He wrote much about this in his letter to the Romans, and I believe many things he wrote in the Book of Romans came back to him on the voyage from Sidon to Myra.

Once, I was asked to be an SOS pastor in a church splitting into four factions. For six weeks, we gathered in prayer at 5:00 am for anyone who wanted the Holy Spirit’s leading. Amazingly, one year later, those divisions were healed. Instead of a four-way split, we witnessed four new congregations emerge in other parts of the city, new daughter churches. I urge you to look to God’s Spirit for solutions to the next crisis. What are you willing to volunteer for as you walk in the Spirit?

This is the introduction to Chapter Two of David’s new book, “Making Godly Decisions During Crises.”

Coastal vessels are moored near the entrance to the Port of Myra, an important stop in Paul’s voyage to Rome. Photo by David