Some On Broken Pieces
By David J. Stewart | February 2014
Acts 27:40-44, “And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”
There is a wonderful truth tucked away in Acts 27:40-44. Paul was a
prisoner being transported aboard a Roman ship. As the ship sailed close to
land it ran ashore and was broken apart by the violent waves of the Sea. The
advice of the Roman soldiers was to execute all the prisoners, lest they
escape. But the centurion (a commanded over 100 soldiers), didn't want to
execute the apostle Paul. So the centurion ordered for all men aboard,
soldiers and prisoners alike, to swim to the shore. The Bible says that some
of them floated on boards, while others used broken pieces of the ship to
escape to shore. Everyone survived and no one escaped.
It is every Christian believer's desire to sail through life as a ship in tact (whole), fulfilling God's perfect plan as we see it for our life. However, as is so often the case because of our inherent sin nature, or because of adverse circumstances beyond our control, our life becomes shipwrecked. God's perfect plan oftentimes is completely different than our perfect plan. Yet, God is still able and willing to use our life to rescue others on the broken pieces of our shipwrecked life. Maybe you can no longer be an entire ship, having forfeited God's perfect plan for your life, but you can still rescue some on the broken pieces of your life. If you have a pulse, you have a purpose!
Joseph's life was shipwrecked. He was betrayed by his ten half-brothers and sold into slavery. Joseph was wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt as a slave. Joseph's feet hurt in the leg irons (Psalms 105:17-18). Joseph felt like his life was over. Little did Joseph know or understand that he was fulfilling God's perfect plan for his life, even as a shipwrecked life. God used Joseph's life to save millions of people from the deadly 7-year famine in Egypt.
