What is our exit strategy? “Every man for himself.” Who taught us to put ourselves first? Self-preservation is a strong instinct. How naturally and easily, we look out for ourselves. Is there an alternative to self-sufficiency?
The sailors didn’t believe Paul’s promise of safe landing. They had been in storms before. When they lost hope, the sailors pretended to put down anchors as they surreptitiously prepared to take the lifeboat. With the discernment the Holy Spirit gave him, Paul told the Roman soldiers that they might die if the sailors went overboard and tried to get away. Then the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat.
I once heard that Hernando de Cortez burned the ships when he and the conquistadors landed in South America. How would he and his men make it safely home? Cortez did not come to turn back, but to stay.
Dr. Luke is teaching us the importance of trust. When we give up all our other possibilities, we find ourselves “ship-wrecked on God.” He is our only hope. Will we trust him? Or will we waste our time looking for “Plan-B” and do it our way? We can trust God to protect us. Let’ s put his interests first and trust him today. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The will of God is the safest place in the whole world to be. It is the only safe place.
