Just because you are a person on a mission for God does not mean that everything will be perfect. Paul was definitely on God’s mission but his journey sounds horrible. What I don’t hear from Paul (or the author Luke) is self-pity. There is not tone of “why me” in the story. I don’t hear Paul questioning where is God, what is his purpose in this, where is the justice for having lived a good life, etc. On the contrary, Paul is bold and steady through it all. He advises the ship’s captain and the centurion, encourages the crew regarding their lives and admonishes them to eat.
Paul’s attitude was determined by a relationship with his God. No one could touch it. Circumstances could not change it. It really did not matter what was going on around him as long as he was connected to his God.
I hate drama; with the events of the past few years, I’ve had enough of it to last a lifetime. It seems to be an incredibly self-centered way to live. Maybe that is why I see what I do in this story. Paul could have become a drama-queen and no one would have blamed him. But it never crossed his mind. His mind and his heart were in the hands of God so he did not worry. It seems to me that self-centered living produces drama while God-centered living produces calm, even during the storms of life. Now that I put it that way, I hate drama even more.
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