After a long ministry trip I sat in a window seat as the plane approached Denver. From my perch I watched a dense bank of clouds rolling over the mountains. Forecasters predicted a heavy storm with significant snowfall. Then the intercom crackled. The pilot announced that conditions were too dangerous to land and we were being diverted south. Instead of spending the snowy night in my warm house with wife and kids, I joined a couple hundred other stranded passengers in a cold hotel in Colorado Springs.

So go the indignities of travel. Over the years I’ve been delayed or stuck due to blizzards, ice storms, tornadoes, thunderstorms, mechanical issues, airline strikes and Covid-19. Once I waited a couple hours because the first class cabin didn’t have enough cutlery.

The apostle Paul traveled constantly, often under dangerous conditions. While on his way to Rome the captain risked a late season run across the Mediterranean. With no forecaster to tell them to divert, the ship ran into a major storm. But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. The uncontrollable vessel danced with the storm for 14 days, finally running aground on Malta with no loss of life. The Lord spared Paul and the passangers, but the ship and its cargo were lost.

Why would the Lord allow Paul, on a journey to carry the gospel to the capital of the world and appeal to Caesar, to be diverted by a storm? Wasn’t his mission vital to the growth of the faith? Couldn’t the Lord create calm seas and advantageous winds? Of course he could. But life doesn’t happen that way, even for the greatest missionary in history.

Nature is not concerned with the importance I place on my work. Neither is nature concerned with me spending nights in uncomfortable hotels (at least I got a room). Taking for granted every convenience, I forget the dominance of natural forces. This is our Father’s world, and sometimes this world reminds me its power—a mere glimmer of the authority and strength of its Creator.

Acts 27

Photo by Mark kassinos