Shipwrecks and Snake Bites

It seems that just when you have it all planned out, there's an unexpected route that comes along. Just about that time when you're maybe driving to church today. A detour? You've got to be kidding me! Anyone run into a detour today? Some of us have said, where is this taking me? How did this come about? This wasn't here the other day. Yeah, some of us have experienced that just today. And I was told that Cincinnati has not four seasons, they just have two seasons.

Winter and road construction. I don't know if that's the case or not. But it seems that there certainly are times you're just driving along, and there it is. A way that you didn't expect to have to go. A detour you're confronted with. Or maybe you're just sailing along in life, enjoying beautiful summer sun, and then a leak springs in the boat, or the fuel gauge gives out and you're stuck in the middle of the lake trying to flag down somebody for a tow.

Those things just seem to happen. I know I experienced that as a child. During the summer times, our families would get together. My cousins, we'd have a whole group of these 10 to 14 year olds. All of us stair-stepped. We had enough for a baseball team, each. So we'd pick sides.

And of course, you had to play the world champion, ultimate world cousins series. So we're in the midst of one of these important games. And my cousin, who was playing shortstop, said, Hey, look! A snake! And so suddenly the game turned into chasing a snake around the yard. Of course, one of my cousins, Scott, was really brave, grabs this snake. Took a hold of him. The rest of us were like, Whoa, look at that! And of course, he started teasing us all with it until he got too close to my cousin, Glenn, and it bit him.

And then of course, ah, he's screaming and crying. And mom, he runs into the house and it's like, Oh, there's the game. The game is gone. We're totally distracted. Now we can't finish the ultimate world series. We all run in and we're all trying to look at him. Uh-oh, what is normally going to find? That's his mom trying to figure out, Oh, no, he's going to be gushing blood everywhere. And as he's holding his hand out, she say, Where did it bite you?

Where was this? And I don't see anything. Can't see anything. Couldn't find where it bit him. Of course, it was a garter snake. Didn't really have much for teeth. But it sure changed the whole afternoon, even as kids, something we just didn't expect. Of course, as adults, we encounter much bigger detours than just a snake bite or a leak in the boat. Sometimes it is a road closed. Sometimes you may come to that sign and it says, Proceed with caution.

Or maybe you come to a road that's local traffic only. Now you've got to turn around and go a whole different way. Life's full of detours, isn't it? They seem to happen when you least expect it. And you have to take the long way around. You've got to go this temporary direction instead of going what you thought was going to be the main route. This is the way I need to go. And yet when you begin to think about it, how many individuals in the biblical account experienced these unexpected reroutes of what they had planned?

How many of them experienced a detour? I mean, I think of this one young man who was a prince of Egypt. And then he fled 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness. Did he expect to do that? Was that what he had planned? I don't think so. How about that man named Joseph? Had this beautiful coat. I'm sure he didn't expect to get beat up by his brothers, sold off into slavery into Egypt. And that wasn't the end of it. Thrown into prison.

And then, now what is my path? I'm going to be stuck here forever. And of course, the next thing you know, he's second in charge right under Pharaoh. I don't think he planned that. I don't think he had that in mind. And it's interesting when you look through those various accounts and whether it's a Daniel who gets carted off into Babylon. He didn't expect that. He didn't plan for that. That wasn't my life's goal. And yet, thrown into a lion's den? I'm sure he didn't want that either.

But what was his reaction to that? I'm sure David, the shepherd boy, didn't expect to grow up and be king of all of Israel. And yet, along the path, boy, there were those who were out to kill him. And so as you look at those various stories, any one of those individuals could have quit along the way. They could have said, God, I don't know what you're doing. I don't know why you're allowing this. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

So take it away. Why would you allow this? But instead, they chose to stay with the will of God. No matter how dark it looked, no matter how difficult it looked, no matter how they could not see what the outcome could potentially be. They didn't get angry. They didn't get upset with God. They didn't demand that, God, you need to fix this right now. They didn't do that. Instead, they endured. They endured.

And I think as we think of our lives, we had some unexpected twists. Maybe you had to go a whole different direction than you planned. A life detour. Maybe it was an unexpected illness. That can certainly change your path. Well, I expected to be the supervisor of my crew by now. I don't know why I'm not. I didn't expect to be over here.

And you see, these detours could be a disappointment. It could be a change in circumstances. Well, I should have four children by now and I'm not even married. What is going on? And it could be difficulty with others in our relationships. It could be failure in achieving the plans and the goals that we set for ourselves.

And yet, it seems, when we have to deal with things, what is our perspective? There's an interesting passage in Exodus 13, verse 17.

That always strikes me as so very interesting because, as you know, this section of Exodus is about the children of Israel finally getting out of Egypt. Pharaoh finally says, alright, go, go. And as they plan to get out of town, it's interesting what happens next. And in Exodus 13, verse 17, it says, Or in other words, you're not going on the main road. You're going to have to go a different way. This is going to take you right through Philistine territory, so instead, I'm not taking you on the shortest route. What was their reaction? It's like, what are we doing? Why are we going this way? I can't imagine Moses is getting this right. Why? Why is this happening? Well, the story goes on. God says, Or some translations say, Others say, So all those various translations are making this point. This is unexpected. This is a detour. This isn't the best way to go. In my perspective, the people had to be thinking, let's go the short way. Let's go direct. That's got to be the best solution to our problem. And yet, God didn't do that. And so, as you begin to think about that, I think it begins to illustrate a couple of important lessons that we can learn in how God leads us in our life. I think there are lessons that we can learn about His guidance and His direction for each and every one of us. So why would He do this? Why would He do this to the Israelites? Why not get right to it? Let's go. Let's get it over with. Why the unexpected way? Why the roundabout? What is God's goal? What's His purpose? Well, if you look at verse 17 again, it says, In other words, if we have to go right through Philistine territory, some of you are going to get killed. You want that? Oh, wow. I didn't think of that. Maybe that's not the best way after all. It looks like that would be the best way. But God say, no, it's not the best way. I don't want you to change your mind after leaving with a high hand and think somehow it was better living under this authoritative, sinful government of Pharaoh, going back into slavery. That would be unacceptable. So what's God doing? He's protecting them. He's protecting them. Have you ever thought when things don't work out the way that you want? God's protecting you from something you don't see, from something you may not understand? You see, they traveled through the wilderness, not just because all the old guys got to die in the wilderness so we young people can get it right. No, that wasn't it. They didn't do so well after they got into the Promised Land anyway, did they? Now it wasn't that. They traveled in a roundabout way and continued to do that for 40 years because God was certainly protecting them and leading them, guiding them. And that same promise holds true to us. If you hold your place here, let's go over to Isaiah 43. In Isaiah 43, verse 2, here God inspires Isaiah to record something in a similar fashion to help us to recognize what is God's goal for us. What is His purpose when we run into what seems to be the wrong way, the detour I didn't want to take or expect to take? What is His perspective? Well, in Isaiah 43, verse 2, here talking to Israel, but we realize we are spiritual Israel. It applies to us in a spiritual way without any doubt. He says in verse 2, when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you.

And of course, think back to Egypt. They literally passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Was God with them? Yep, sure was. Protected them from Pharaoh's army once they got through. Today for us, when the water is about to cover us, when we're in a difficult... What's God going to do? He says, I'm going to be with you. And he says, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. And when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.

So what seems like an unexpected occurrence or circumstance I wasn't planning on, is God going to let it overwhelm us? Is God going to watch over us or not? Here he says, I'm going to protect you. I'm going to watch over you. In fact, if you turn a few pages to the Psalms, similar thought here in Psalm 91, that God wants to reassure us. In fact, over and over and over again, He reminds us of His protection.

That He wants to protect us from ourselves, from our circumstances, from what we may think is right, to have a better perspective on His goals, His purposes for our life. And He protects us as He does this. Psalm 91, right at the very beginning of that chapter, it says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Of course, that's us. We want to be under God's guidance, under His shadow. We don't want to get so far away from God that that shadow isn't cast over us. We want to be right there.

That's showing this close-knit relationship that we have with God. And with that, He says, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge. He is my fortress. My God in Him I will trust. So we have this level of faith expressed that even though I don't understand this, even though I don't know where I'm going, even though I thought this was best, now God, You've taken me over here on this unexpected path, this roundabout, this detour.

I'm going to trust You. And we see one of the reasons then is expounded here. He says, Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He'll cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. And so we see this level of faith expressed that even though I don't see the path You're taking me on, God, even though I don't understand what the situation is and why You wouldn't allow this to happen because I think this is best, I'm going to trust You.

And sure enough, I didn't see that trap there. I would have walked right into that trap. The fowler's snare? Yeah, that's what that's talking about. I would have been right in a trap going my own way. And God, I didn't understand at the time, but You protected me from that. And the diseases that can come... The perilous diseases? Are You going to protect me from that, God? Are You going to watch over me?

Are You going to heal me? Are You going to keep me safe? He uses that beautiful analogy of a mother bird with its feathers under his wings, taking refuge. That's all about protection. That's all about our well-being. And not just a physical protection. He wants to protect us from the spiritual snares.

He wants to protect us from the sicknesses that could lead us in wrong thinking away from His truth. He wants to guide us in all of those kinds of things. And so I think God tells us, yes, one of His goals and purposes for allowing these things in our life that we don't understand, we don't expect, is that He's going to keep us from danger. He's promised to watch over us. He's going to protect us. He's not going to turn His back on us.

He's going to be right there for us as we trust our lives and put it into His hands. And so He makes that important point even all the way back there at the Exodus. And yet that's not all. As God brought Israel out, it's interesting what He wanted them to do and what He wanted them to be. There's an interesting passage in 2 Samuel. In 2 Samuel 22, by this time we're already in the Promised Land, so we're not going all the way back there to the Exodus. But here we see something important that is related to the whole excursion after leaving Egypt and then that journey to the Promised Land and then coming into the Promised Land and following God's instructions, following His lead, following His path instead of what they thought was best.

And here in 2 Samuel 22, I'll begin in verse 32. 2 Samuel 22, 32. Let's see if we can see something interesting about God's purpose and goal in these unexpected situations. Yeah, instead of coming into the Promised Land and immediately everything is great. Oh, we've got giants. Oh, we've got Philistines. Oh, we've got all these enemies here. But they come to the conclusion in verse 32, for who is God except the Lord?

Who is the rock except our God? God is my strength and power. In fact, one of the translations here says, it's God who arms me and makes my way perfect. He's the one that prepares me. So we have that sense of protection kind of being expressed again here.

But that's not all. Notice verse 34. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle. My arms can bend a bow of bronze. He says, God, you have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. Of course, what's happening here? God's prepared them and He's worked with them to be ready to take on whatever would come next. He didn't just say, well, here's the Promised Land. Good luck. Have at it. We'll see you later. He prepared them for what was lying ahead.

And the same holds true for us. You know, when we have an unexpected situation or a dead end sign right in front of us and we've got to go another way and we're wondering, well, what are you doing, God?

Why did you allow this to happen? I believe this is part of the purpose. He's preparing us. He's allowed this detour to develop in our life to get us ready to help us to more fully trust in Him, to have that spiritual maturity that is needed, to put on Christ, to have a more Christ-like perspective. Because ultimately, what's He preparing us for? That's not just the next job opportunity. It's not just, you know, the next trial that may come.

No, He's ultimately preparing us for the Kingdom of God, ruling with Christ in His Kingdom. And so when these things happen, do we often step back and recognize God's supremacy in all of this? That God wouldn't allow this and just throw us out there for no good reason, at least from our perspective. And this isn't just an Old Testament, Promised Land, Egypt kind of a thing. If we look over at what Peter had to say, notice this same idea of being prepared, He's preparing us for greater service.

He's preparing us for His Kingdom, for His family. 1 Peter 1, right at the beginning of Peter's letter. It's interesting, He talks about these detours we face in life. He addresses these unexpected roundabouts that come up on the road when we had a whole different path planned.

Right at the very beginning here in verse 6 of chapter 1 of 1 Peter. He says, He says, He says, Roundabouts, unexpected situations, another way, a looping path, a detour, various trials, He says. You've been grieved by various trials. But He says that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, He says, Though it's tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And so once again, what's the goal? What's the purpose? It's not just the testing. It's not just proving your faith. Yes, that's part of it. We have to put our confidence and our trust in God no matter what. But here again, He emphasizes the outcome. He emphasizes the preparation involved in this, that He's preparing us ultimately to praise. To honor, to honor, to glory, and give all that glory to God.

That's the preparation so that our life can be a living sacrifice. It can be a representation of honoring God, not just in the kingdom, but right now. That I recognize, even when I don't understand why God's allowing this or what I'm going through, we can still praise and honor and worship. And God's preparing us for that very thing. And He's right there with us on that path that we may not quite totally understand, helping us, leading us, giving us the tools that we need by the power of His Spirit to develop that godly character.

So that when it is tested, we can succeed because He's right there with us. Because He doesn't say, well, it's going to be tested by fire and sorry, you're going to mess up and lose out. And that'll be the end of the story. He's saying, when the test comes and you put your trust and faith, confidence in God, rely on Him, even if it's unclear, ultimately it'll be found to praise Him and worship Him and bring Him glory. And so I think it's an important observation that God gives us. Even when we don't understand, God has a purpose.

God has a goal. And in fact, as we consider this, I think it's also important to realize how God leads us through these situations. How does He? I mean, we're told part of His reasoning is to protect us. Part of it is to prepare us.

But how does He do that? How does He do that? And I think it's important if you held your place back in Exodus, if you go back to Exodus 15. In Exodus 15, verse 13, here we have a great victory that has occurred in chapter 15. They've come through the Red Sea. We're probably pretty familiar with the story there, and they sing this amazing song in honor of God.

And it's interesting that as this beautiful song is sung, part of the lyrics become so critical here. If you notice verse 13, I mean, after saying, Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who's like you? You are awesome. You do amazing wonders. And then in verse 13 it says, Well, wait a second.

Just before this, they were standing in front of the Red Sea. And what were the people saying? Were they singing this? Oh God, You led us in Your mercy. Oh no! We're blocked! We can't get through. Moses, what are you doing? You led us right in front of the water, and now we're all going to die.

Yeah, that was their perspective. And yet, once trusting in God, once realizing, Wow, how does God lead us, even though this looks like the Red Sea that we're facing? If you notice what the verse says here, it tells us very clearly then, So God, through His love, through His grace, through His will, guides us. He guided the Israelites right where they needed to be, where they needed to be to be successful, where they needed to be to overcome, to give them the best opportunity for success.

And He's telling us the same thing. That even though we face these situations, we have a God of love who is guiding us. Unfailing love. In your mercy, it says here in the New King James, NIV and New Living all point to your unfailing love. You lead us. You guide us. And so God guides us on the basis of His mercy and His love. And He's promised to help. In fact, I just noticed in my Bible, I've got a little heading right there as it comes to that section. The promise of God's help. God guides us lovingly, even when we don't realize it. A good example of this is found back in Isaiah.

I guess I could have held you place there as well. Isaiah 42. If we get just before Jeremiah, we can get to Isaiah. In Isaiah 42, this one struck me kind of in an interesting way, just the way that it was inspired to be recorded for us. In Isaiah 42 verse 16. Because I think sometimes, if you're like me, I felt this way. I don't see it. I don't get it. I don't know why. And it causes you to question, what is going on, God? And here in verse 16 of Isaiah 42, God is speaking.

God is speaking and He says, I will bring the blind by a way they didn't know. I will lead them in paths they haven't known. Almost sounds like somebody mean, I'm going to take those blind people and off to, you know, they're going to get lost. And we're going to leave them out on their own and they're going to be in trouble. And we'll get a good laugh out of that.

No, that's not what he's saying here. Lead them in a way they didn't know. They are blind. They can't see. They can't see the path. They don't have the answer to the reason why. And yet, what's God doing here? Is He lovingly guiding them? Well, He says, I will make darkness light before them. And the crooked place is straight. These things I'll do for them and not forsake them.

Boy, can we take heart in passages like this? I think it even points to the fact that, yeah, we're blind. We're blind at times in our life as we look at the situations we face. Maybe we don't even realize that, wow, God's taken us a different way and I didn't even realize He was going this direction with me. And so when we recognize that, we have to come to the conclusion that even though there's a change, of course, God is not going to desert us.

In fact, is He right there walking with us in this path? When we put our trust in Him, when we depend on Him, yeah, a blind person is totally dependent on the one that would lead them. If they've never been this way before, yeah, you've got to trust who's ever leading you. And here we see, even in the roundabout, even in the looping path, even in the detour, God is not going to desert us.

He's going to continue to lovingly guide us, ultimately, for our own benefit. I think that brings another aspect to mind when we think about this very fact of how God leads us. When it's not clear, when it seems like I should be going a whole different way, Psalm 32, verse 7, emphasizes a little bit different aspect of why God does this and how He leads us. Because you could get the impression, where are you, God? I thought you were going to be helping me.

You're allowing me to go through this difficulty, this trial, and I don't see why you would allow this. I don't understand this at all. Where are you? You promised. Yet, as you think about that, think about how He leads. Psalm 32, verse 7. It says, you are my hiding place. We have an expression of faith, confidence, trust in God. You shall preserve me from trouble. Yes, we recognize God's going to protect us.

That's one of His goals. That's one of His purposes. We know He's going to prepare us. It says, you shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Yep, kind of thinking back to that Exodus and coming through the Red Sea. Songs of deliverance come to mind. Think about that. Say, lah, absolutely. But then, God says in verse 8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye.

And so when we trust God, we don't know what life holds. We don't know why am I going through this trial? Why am I suffering? Why this difficulty? We see an important aspect of what God has in mind as He leads us. If you've read this in the New Living, it says, the Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. And so that's telling me God's going to take us the way that may not always be the easiest, but is it the best?

Absolutely. The easiest way is not always what's best. And what we see here is as God guides us and protects us and prepares us, here it shows He's teaching us. He teaches us along the path. This idea, I will instruct you. I will teach you. When we put our life in His hands, not only does He preserve us and protect us, but He wants us to grow. He wants us to come to spiritual maturity. He wants to guide and instruct us. And He says, I don't take my eye off of it. Now it might seem like I'm not there with you. It might seem that I deserted you. It might seem that I took you to a box canyon that you're on your own. Yeah, it might look that way. That's not reality. That's not reality. I'm watching you. I don't take my eye off you. I've got my eye on you. You're right there. And so when we recognize that, something that we might say, this seems to be a step backward. But the reality is, it might be the only way to go forward. It might be the only way to progress. Taking that alternate path may just be the only way forward. And I know it's tough because, you know, often the questions come to mind. Have you ever been there? What question comes to mind? I know what question comes to my mind all too often. Why? Why'd you allow this, God? Wrong question. Wrong question. Really, what all of these passages we've looked at have focused on, not why, but who. You think of the who, what, why, where, whens, the doll, the Ws. Forget the why and focus on who. Put your trust in Him. He's going to surround us. He's going to teach us. He's going to guide us. We're going to stay under His shadow. He promises to be there. Even though I don't get it, why is not the question? We've got to focus on who. Or what? What wouldn't be bad? What can I learn from this? God, help me to have your perspective, because too often we're just maybe irritated by this because this is not what I want. This is not what I expect. And this difficulty, this challenge, this trial actually may hold an unbelievable opportunity to learn and to grow. And in fact, might never have had that possibility unless God had allowed this to happen. So if I ask, what can I learn? Help me to learn these lessons. How can this strengthen me spiritually? God, help me to understand how I can be strengthened spiritually by this challenge. How can I use this to grow? How can I learn to spiritually be more mature as I face these difficulties? And how can I learn to help others? How can I learn to be a better servant? I think that changes the whole equation from the wise to who God is and what we can learn and how He strengthens and works with us. And never takes His eye off of us. I talked earlier about the hole in the boat that springs up and suddenly you're sinking out and the fuel pump goes out and you've got to get a tow and the boat's going to sink and all that. Yes, sometimes life may seem like a shipwreck. But can God use a shipwreck? I told the story about my cousins in the great Cousins World Series and the cousin getting bit by a snake. Can God use a snake bite for His purposes? Shipwrecks and snake bites?

Come over to Acts 27. This situation on a much more serious level happened to the Apostle Paul. You may be familiar with the story. Paul has been imprisoned. He's been accused and he has appealed to Rome. And so he has to travel to Rome to go on trial before Nero. And so in Acts 27, he is a prisoner on board a ship bound for Rome.

And sure enough, it's the perfect sailing day, right? Wrong. They run into this unbelievable storm. My Bible says, the tempest, the tempest. Yes, this unbelievable hurricane-like storm comes up as they had planned this perfect journey. Yet here it comes. And not only for a day or two are they blown off course a little bit. This goes on for day after day after day. In fact, for two weeks they are caught up in this huge storm. Until finally, we get down to verse 41 in Acts 27, and the ship runs aground and basically falls apart, breaks up. And yet, in this shipwreck, not one sailor loses their life. Not one prisoner loses their life. Paul had prophesied that. God had allowed him to see that. This is going to be okay. Even though this isn't what we expected, this isn't what we wanted. They end up in Malta. That wasn't on the journey. That wasn't where we were supposed to go. And then what happens? Well, we're all safe. Everything's great, right? What could be better? Well, they're all cold. They've been out in the water. It's been this terrible storm. Well, let's build a fire. So in chapter 28, they build a fire. And as Paul's collecting wood right here at the very beginning of chapter 28, okay, this wasn't the cousin's world series. He wasn't chasing this thing. But picking up some wood, there's a viper, verse 3. He gathered a bundle of sticks, laid them on the fire, and a viper came out and fastened on his hand. It bit him. This isn't a garter snake. This is a deadly venomous snake, a viper. And so everybody steps back. Wow. What do they say? Well, end of verse 4. No doubt this man is a murderer. He's escaped the sea, but justice doesn't allow him to live. Yeah, that guy deserves it. Yeah, that snake got him. I don't know what he did, but yeah, God's getting even with him. Yeah, sometimes we think that when we see others going through difficulties, don't we? What happens? He shakes it off into the fire and suffered no harm. No, boy, if I had a snake hanging onto my hand, I'd be saying, God, what? What? You saved us and now I'm going to die? Well, I think with what's unsaid here is Paul had that ultimate trust, that confidence. God was going to lead him through. Whatever was going to happen, God could use it, could teach Paul, could guide Paul, could protect him, prepare him. Paul had that perspective, and it's just remarkable the situation here. And so this very bad Dave, shipwreck, snake bites, the whole thing, awful situation, they're saying Paul's got to be an awful man. He must be awful. But no, he doesn't die. It says they expected he'd swell up and suddenly fall down dead. And yet he didn't. So now, wow, he must be the hero. He must be a god. And so they start looking at him from a whole other perspective, which wasn't the best either. But the circumstances then take a turn. Unexpected. Unexpected. Boy, I don't want to be shipwrecked. I don't want to snake bite.

But could God use it? Well, verse 8 of chapter 28, it tells us that it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. This Publius is the chief official of the island. You might say the island governor. He's the overseer of the entire island, and his dad is ill. Paul went into him and prayed, laid hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. They were honored in many ways. And when they departed, they provided such things as were necessary. And so, a remarkable circumstance. What was the result of this shipwreck? What was the result of the snake bite? An opportunity to bring glory and honor to God in a totally unique way.

So can God turn shipwrecks and snake bites into opportunity?

Absolutely. Paul and Publius should have never met. That should have never happened. Malta, that's not on the ship's log. That's not on the itinerary. Imagine Paul is a prisoner. Hey, I'd like to stop by Malta and visit the governor there. Forget it. That didn't happen. No. But it took a shipwreck and a snake bite, really in a sense, to set up a divine appointment with the governor. Heal his father. Show the power and glory of God. And so God used this to set up an amazing opportunity. And what really comes down to preaching the gospel, an opportunity to preach the gospel. And you know, he couldn't have orchestrated that. It wasn't on the agenda. Only God could orchestrate those kinds of circumstances to strategically place Paul right where God wanted him.

And I think that speaks such an important lesson for all of us.

Is life going to bring these kinds of circumstances? Maybe not a snake bite or a shipwreck. But illness, job loss, disappointments, discouragement? Yeah. Life's going to bring that. But if we head back to Exodus, you've still got a little finger in Exodus, we go back to chapter 13. Go back to chapter 13 for a moment. I think there's this overriding lesson that we can learn that becomes so critically important. In Exodus 13, verse 21, it gives us a description as they're coming out of Egypt. We're there, we're on our way out, and God shows this amazing sign, this amazing occurrence. Even though they're going to be going a roundabout looping way, notice what we're told here in verse 21 of Exodus 13. It says, By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud.

But He says to guide them on their way. Not just, good luck, you're out of Egypt. No, I'm going to guide you. And it says, by night a pillar of fire to give them light so they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. And so God was there with them. He was there helping them to realize we should always, no matter what, no matter what it looks like, no matter the situation, no matter the circumstances, we can depend on God. He's always here. He's always guiding. Even when it doesn't seem like it. He's always shining light, even though I feel I'm in the dark. He's there. And He's never going to leave His place when we place our trust and our confidence in Him. Kind of reminiscent of the Psalms where it says, cast your burden on the Lord. He'll sustain you. He'll be there for you. He'll never permit the righteous to be moved. That's what it says in Psalm 55. It reminds us of that very thing. He will not leave us. He'll never permit us to be moved. Of course, I wonder if that's where Peter took some inspiration from that Psalm about cast your burden on the Lord. Because he said a very similar thing. Remember what Peter said? He said, cast your cares upon Him.

But then it's not like, good luck with that. No, cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. He cares for you. And when we depend on Him, we have that confidence and we have that assurance that God will be there. He cares for us. He will guide. He will lead. He will be there so we can travel in whatever the circumstances and situations may be. How many Proverbs remind us of that very fact? I think they just happen over and over. The Psalms remind us of similar things. So many times that even though I might fall, I'm not going to be cast down. We're reminded of that. Why? Because God's going to hold us. He's going to take care of us. I think that's Psalm 37, maybe. I think that's where that's at. Yeah, a number of times. You know, God directs our steps. He can watch over us. He orders them. He guides us when we put our confidence in Him. In fact, I may turn to one Proverb. In Proverbs 4, it's such a great reminder that as we really learn this deep-seated lesson of dependence on God, that we recognize God is protecting us, that God is preparing us, God is lovingly guiding us, God is teaching us, and at the same time He has these occurrences that He's allowed in our lives because He's preparing us for something better. He's preparing us to be more spiritually mature. He's helping us to grow in the character of Jesus Christ. He's preparing us for greater service. And in Proverbs 4, verse 10, it's such a great reminder of His presence, even amid those challenging difficulties that we face in life. Proverbs 4, verse 10, I'm going to read this in the message version. It's going to be a little different than your King James or New King James, but for the topic for today, it just seems so relevant. Here's what the message says in Proverbs 4.10, so you can follow along. The message says, This is God speaking. I'm writing out clear directions to wisdom way. I'm drawing a map to righteous road. I don't want you ending up in blind alleys or wasting time making wrong turns. Hold tight to good advice. Don't relax your grip. Guard it well, for your life is at stake. I just think that's such a beautiful reminder. Do we take God's advice? Do we take His direction? Even though it seems like, boy, make a U-turn, GPS says. When it's safe, make a U-turn. I think we better make a U-turn! But no, God's writing out the directions. Put your confidence and your trust in Him. Depend on Him. Honor Him. Learn that dependence and hang on tight because God's going to take you the best way. And even if that detour comes up suddenly without warning, yeah, that's usually the way it is, isn't it? It comes up without warning. I was reminded of that one time I was driving in Minnesota. I'd just been this way two days before. And I come on this little back road. I thought I was taking a shortcut, direct route. The sign says, bridge out ahead two miles.

I was just here. There's no way. I'm going because I'm sure that's going to start Monday. They'll come and start. So I'm going down the road. Yeah, I'm going to be fine. I'll make the shortcut. Oh, no. There's a road grader. Uh-oh. There's a backhoe. And as I get to what was a bridge at one time, there's nothing there whatsoever. It's like, great. Turn around, head back. I come to that sign that said, detour ahead. And on the backside, as I'm coming up to the sign, it said, told you the bridge was out.

Yeah, you sure did. I didn't trust the sign. And sometimes we don't recognize that. We don't recognize. Yeah, and sometimes the detours, they're rough. They're winding. They're road construction. How long is this going to be? How long is this going to take? God knows. God knows. And one thing I'm reminded of, you get off the main road. How oftentimes is the scenic road much more beautiful when you get off the freeway? You get off the interstate. You're on what seems like a back road, and yet here's the most beautiful scenery of all. Could God be taking us that way for that purpose? Yeah, and at the same time, it probably helps us to appreciate the smooth highway when they finally get it done. And so even though it may seem nearer, it doesn't mean it's better. It doesn't mean it's better. And if we keep in mind, this serves a purpose. It serves a purpose. And when we remember that, I think it brings new meaning to what Christ said when He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Don't go your way. I'm the way. Follow where I'm leading. Follow where I'm leading. And so when that unexpected turn presents itself, when that roundabout way is right before our eyes, don't forget. Literally, a physical detour means the road's being fixed. It's going to be better. The old roads are being fixed. New roads are being built. And I think there's a spiritual lesson there as well. The detours that we face, the unexpected turns, the roundabouts that occur in our life, God intends to set us on a course that is a new and better path. In fact, not just better. It's the best path. And so let's take these opportunities to see God's hand in shipwrecks and in snake bites. And let's go forward in faith.