Navigating Troubled Waters

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Steven Curtis Chapman, Dive (Click for Song)

23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 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.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”

27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 

–  Acts 27:23-29

Read Acts 21-27

I was very freaked out by the 1954 movie Creature from the Black Lagoon (Click Link). My oldest brother Johnny made me watch it because he was charged with taking care of his two younger brothers and sister. Like any good older brother he fulfilled his calling to lead the charge of  torturing me with fear most of my childhood. This movie set the stage for an inordinate fear of monsters by land or sea. I grew up as a competitive swimmer in Colorado, swimming my first race of 25 meters backstroke at the age of 4 for the Belmont Barracudas. As I grew older, I remember during practice I would look down at the drain grate at the bottom of the 10’ deep end. I would picture the face of the Creature from the Black Lagoon staring at me while grasping the grate with his hands. This vision deep in my mind would cause chills to run through my already chilled body. I imagined him tearing the grate off and ascending from the depths to capture me and pull me to his aquatic lair. I never really told anyone about it until now. 

Biblically, there are the depths of God, the deep things of Satan, the depths of human experience, the literal deep of the ocean etc. I have broken down the biblical narrative on the “the deep” into two categories. The “Deep” in the bible conjures up both positive and negative images and metaphors.

Positive

Negative

Welcome to the Depths

Our passage Acts 21-27 sets a context for dealing with the depths of adversity. Smooth waters can quickly become troubled due to no real fault of our own. We are just along for the ride. We are minding our own business. We don’t mean to bother anyone with our boring lives, let alone our problems. However, like Paul, who was clearly under a government seal to appear before Caesar for a trial that would eventually lead to his beheading by Nero. We clearly see that Paul did not lose his head before he was beheaded. As a follower of Christ, we can shine in the deep darkness (Isa.61:1). We can be cool headed when others are losing their mind. I love the popular World War II saying in England, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” (Click Link).

Troubled waters are inevitable in our walk through this earth. Conflict of all stripes and colors will break out in one form or another. Danger signs are posted everywhere and we all too often ignore them and we recklessly proceed. We ignore “Do Not Enter” signs as we seek to enlighten ourselves with forbidden fruit, resulting in damaged relationships, isolation, blame-casting, shame and fear. We are drawn to areas posted with Enter at your Own Risk: Large unexpected waves may sweep you off your feet into the ocean. We consume things that have “WARNING: The Surgeon General has determined this product may cause cancer.” I am not suggesting we should live life playing it safe, pulling back choosing boredom over adventure.

I believe the MORE we WAIT on the Lord, the more we are willing to LAUNCH out into the DEEP of God’s purposes with powerful love to reach those unreached with the Gospel.

What I am saying is this life is peppered with trials, tribulation, tests, snares, and temptation. In particular, we find ourselves in TROUBLED WATERS, which are situations and circumstances that we did not necessarily plan for or could totally predict. Seasons that we are being driven by winds and waves blowing moderately and violently to a destination we know not. We thought we made a wise decision to continue in a certain direction and things seemed relatively smooth and out of nowhere things were put in motion, people made decisions contrary to your input. The mission became like a galactic Black Hole sucking everything into its black lightless abyss. The spirit of Captain Ahab of  Herman Melville’s Moby Dick possessed you, your boss, your church, your spouse, your child, your spiritual leader or the corporation where you work. Like the Apostle Paul, you discover yourself on a ship destined for Italy as a prisoner for the time being, being driven along by a violent two week Adriatic Sea perfect storm. Like George Clooney in the movie Perfect Storm, we need more fish, we need more money and we with the crew are willing to go further, go deeper, roll the dice and risk everything for the paycheck and glory of success. However, we soon discover that our little fishing vessel is no match for the sheer power of the stirred up depths and are tragically swallowed whole and all is or seems lost. 

I know some these waters of trouble. I was diagnosed in 2009 with a high grade tenacious cancer. Over the past 10 years I have had 7 surgical biopsies which required full anesthesia. I have had 12 different rounds of treatments and stents. However, the cancer kept recurring and spreading causing a lot of affliction in my body. In November 2019, I finally had to have a quality of life alternating major surgery. I lost several body parts but through it all I discovered a depth of God’s comfort, understanding, love and peace. The Troubled Waters became a training ground to experience the depths of God’s grace in a profound life-changing way.

Here is my first swim after major reconstructive surgery!

Troubled Waters will come. The good news is we can prepare for the inevitable seasons wherein we feel driven beyond our control and destined to be adrift in strange waters being pushed by a current toward an inhabited island in the seeming middle of nowhere. The Titanic iceberg is likely to be struck whether you like it or not and you will be scrambling for a life boat or you will simply determine to go down with the ship without a struggle while the violins play in the background. The Book of Acts chapters 21-28 is the extended season finale of the history of the early church, the First Followers of Jesus Christ. The Early Church goes out singing high praise to God for being counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. They are far from the soft-evangelicalism of the Modern Church in America. The main character is the Apostle Paul. Undoubtedly, Dr. Luke, Paul’s traveling companion and physician, is the both the eyewitness and the author of the Book of Acts.  Chapter 27 is the considered the most detailed account we have of Ancient Maritime navigation on the Mediterranean Sea. The opening scene is he had just knelt on the beach of Miletus with the Ephesian Elders to warn them of coming difficult times for the church. After 3 years he had finished his work in Asia and he was bound in the Spirit on his way to “bonds and afflictions” inJerusalem (Acts 20:22-23), but not knowing that in around 3 years he would be chained to Rome for another 2 yearspreaching and teaching in prison before his death by Nero. This section of the Sacred Writings is filled with encouragement from the God of all perseverance for each of us. If we absorb the mindset of the Apostle Paul we will be able to make sense of our own TROUBLED WATERS and remain faithful to our calling to follow and know the depths of Jesus Christ, to faithfully discharge our ministries as gifted believers and to glorify God in the crucible of being forged into the likeness of the character of Jesus Christ.

If you are not a strong swimmer … here are some “planks” to float on! Once you are on the beach here is a bundle of ‘drift wood’ to build a bonfire on the beach so you can warm your faith , hope and love back up.

In review, here are some thoughts regarding how to navigate troubled waters found in Acts 21-27:

Father in Heaven, we purpose to seek you in the storms of life. We accept the trials as winds of revelation that will blow in Your Presence. We repent for the times we have doubted you and fled in cowardice. Today, we humble ourselves before you and ask for courage and strength from your Spirit to stand and lead those around us well.

Amen