I Told You So

Acts 27:13-27

In the New English Standard version of the Bible, that I enjoy studying, this passage has a subtitle: “The Storm at Sea.”  If we take that as a metaphor of life on planet earth, then we all get places in the story.  For all of us have experienced life’s storms, it may have been the loss of a child, a marriage that sank in the turbulent waters of greed, lust, or just no commitment.  It may be the loss of a career or job, the loss of your health, and for many my age it is the loss of your best friend, or mentor. 

In the sea of life, we have this promise from Creator God, “            I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)  Could it be that we, who go by His name, do not believe Jesus tells the truth?  How often do the storms have to encompass our lives before we understand that this life is not a life of chance, but it has a Designer who governs the affairs of men?

Paul was given information by the Designer on what awaits them and shares that knowledge with those in authority, but who is Paul, is he more knowledgeable than the ships’ captain, or the owner of the ship?  This is so much like the warning we have from Jesus in John 16:33, they do the same thing as many of us, they go out to sea with no regard for the warning.  At first, it looks so good, and in your life has this not also been the case, all is well and then the winds of life change, the unexpected happens, and you are not prepared, and no matter what actions you take the boat is going down.

That is where those on the ship with Paul find themselves, they have gone days without food, they throw away the valuable cargo, and then they did the unthinkable, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard, and many who read this have done the same with a mate, or a business relationship, and some even with their children.  Life seems to be at this point hopeless, and this is what B.H. Liddell Hart, a British military historian and strategist who lived from 1895-1970, had to say on the lack of hope: “Helplessness induces hopelessness, and history attests that loss of hope and not loss of lives is what decides the issue of war.”  And it also decides the issues of life, in parenting, in marriage, in health on the job and in the way we accept those who govern us; “helplessness induces hopelessness.”

Now the last thing I want to hear from my wife or from anyone is “I told you so,” but that is precisely what Paul does and it is recorded in Acts 27:21-26, “Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”

What I took from this is that God will put a Paul in my boat, and much of the time I will not listen to him, because he may not have a place of standing in this world, they may not even be an authority in the area of my circumstance.  And when the boat of life begins to take on water, and it is only a matter of time till all is lost, the last thing I want is to hear, “I told you so!”   This is not a time for anger, but a time to listen if your Paul is sent by the Designer, then you will have a plan that has hope, so I must not let pride keep me from listening to what comes after, “It told you so!”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice