Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity...

Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity ... Allow me to share some thoughts on God's Sovereignty and Man's responsibility ... From the Word of God ... Its references to Paul's Shipwreck experince and thoughts shared by Dr. Harry A. Ironside ... One of my personal heroes of faith... "I can see Paul and Luke and Aristarchus pitching in with the sailors and the rest of the men, to help cast off the tackling of the ship. They were not afraid to do their part.
“And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away” (20).
Here we find a people who have come to the very end of their own ability. There they are in their ship, the cargo tossed overboard, the tackling gone, and absolutely hopeless of the salvation of the ship or of their own lives. But it has been said, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” and so here God intervenes. Beginning with verse 21 and reading on to verse 29, we have something that brings before us in a very striking way the divine sovereignty of God. This is the third section.

“But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.”

Think of that! Here is a prisoner, and he talks to the centurion and to his guard and to the master of the ship and to the sailors, and says, “You should have listened to me and let me run this ship. If you had listened to me, everything would have been all right.” He had told them that they ought not to leave a certain harbor, but they did not believe him. People do not believe God’s messengers; yet some day they are going to find out that as the servants of God tell of a fearful storm coming upon this poor world, they speak according to the Word of God. Following his rebuke, Paul says: “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer.” I like that. He does not turn to them and exclaim, “Well, it serves you right. You are getting what is coming to you.” He says, “I have been praying and, when I prayed, God answered, and now I have something to tell you that will encourage you.

‘I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you but of the ship.’
You are going to lose the ship, but you are not going to lose your lives. I can tell you beforehand that every one of you is going to be saved.” How did he know that? Because he had to do with God about it. He says,

“For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve” (23).

Oh, the dignity of that! Paul could look at these representatives of the Roman Empire who had put him in bonds, and say, “I am the servant of the most high God. I belong to Him, and I serve Him, and I am in His service even now. He sent His angel to me. You couldn’t see him. You had eyes only for the storm and the creaking timbers and the treacherous rock ahead, but I have seen the angel of the Lord.” The man of God can see things that the man of the world can never see. He can behold what the man of the world cannot behold. He says, “I saw this angel, and he said to me:

‘Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar’ (therefore you can’t get drowned): ‘and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.’ ”

So he says, “Now I know it is all right. God has told me that I am going to get to Rome and everybody that sails with me is going to get safely ..."

May I add ...of course this sovereign act of God was a matter of physical safety... But the issue is clear... If you are needed and committed to delivering the message of salvation to others... Your life is assured until your mission is complete. Too simple? Maybe, but then, how would you imagine purposelessness, chaos and selfishness to provide a sailor more assurance or security. It was good to be travelling with a man ... like Paul!