Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Acts 28:1-31. This is the story where Paul shakes the snake off of his hand and it doesn't hurt him. This story has led to many people trying to do "snake handling" and getting bitten, some of them even dying. That's probably not a very intelligent idea.
Also not intelligent is what the people do who see the snake bite Paul. They all decide that he's evil and even though he escaped the shipwreck, fate caught up to him and the snake would take him down. But then he doesn't get sick or die, so they decide he's a god. Both extremes are dumb, we realize from our perspective here in the future looking back.
But what it takes some consideration to realize is that we too suffer from bad thinking. We too jump to conclusions about what God is or isn't doing in our lives. We expect Him to answer our every whim, and get mad at Him when He doesn't. We sometimes doubt that He loves us, and don't trust Him to have our best interests at heart. Like St Augustine, we foolishly think, "God, make me chaste... but not yet." Assuming that what He wants to do is cheat us out of joy and happiness, when what He really wants is to give us the greatest joy and the deepest happiness possible.
Let's learn from the example of those in the story who jump to conclusions. Let's humbly realize that we do that too. And let's ask Him to give us wisdom. We all need it.
God, thank You for showing us that we need wisdom. Please help us to humbly accept it when You teach us.
2 comments:
You left out the part of the chief official whose father was sick in bed. Paul went to heal him, laid hands on him and when this happened the rest of sick on the island came and were cured.
Amen
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