This storm is still raging. Like the storm that nearly drowned St Paul in Acts 27, there are moments when we almost feel overwhelmed. If you get a chance to read that exciting story some time in a modern version like The Message, or the New Living Translation, you will catch the awesome horror of a 14-day mega-storm that threatened to destroy Paul and nearly 300 others, adrift in the open sea.
A couple of things strike me from that story that help me today. One is that although Paul was a prisoner in that ship, he was not a victim. He remained in touch with God through prayer and received specific guidance as to how to conduct himself through the crisis. Victim-hood leads to bitterness, self-pity, regret and fear and these are the enemies of victory. Then other is that Paul was adrift in the storm, but never abandoned. Hard as it was to face imminent death and destruction, the apostle knew that God was with him. In fact, he described himself to fellow strugglers with the storm as 'whose I am and whom I serve' (meaning God's). He never lost sight of his true calling or of God's nearness even in the dreadful circumstances he faced.
As this virus stalks the earth like a plague of Biblical proportions, let's choose victory over victim-hood, and trust God for the outcome. Paul didn't know he had an appointment in Malta on his way to Rome, and that his shipwreck was going to turn out to be the traumatic birthing of a new ministry. But God did.
