Bitten But Believing
From Sunday Morning
by Josh Carson on April 23, 2015
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm (Acts 28:3–5, KJV).
Just prior to this setting of Scripture, Paul had been caught up in a great storm. Because the storm was so severe, the sails had to be pulled down. Then he, as well as the rest of the passengers, were blown around in the midst of the storm for two weeks. But, in the midst of the storm, Paul said, “…be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you…fear not…” (Acts 27:22–25, KJV).
There are times in our life when we are in the midst of the storm and we cannot tell where we’re going. But, God will send a Word unto us to encourage and strengthen us. He is telling us not to fear! When there doesn’t seem to be a way out, it’s difficult to believe that the end is near. But, as a believer, there’s something inside of us that reminds us not too be too overwhelmed by our circumstances.
Paul had been down a similar road before. It was because God had brought him out time and time again, he provided this testimony to the men of the ship. He knew that because God had delivered him before, he would again because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). If those around us doubt, we need to hold true to what God has done for us and what He has told us.
When the vessel had shipwrecked, the men were thrown into the sea. Paul instructed everyone to grab whatever they could, and to get to land (Acts 27:43). He told them not to stop fighting for life. In the midst of our battle, we cannot give up—we cannot stop fighting! It is God’s will that we keep moving on and to gain victory over our situation. Too many times people give up hope too close to shore and drown in just a few inches of water. The devil wants nothing us than to steal our blessing. We need to keep pressing on. God has given us the victory!
Once the men made it to land, Paul gathered up sticks for a fire. It is here, the viper lashes out to bite Paul and grabs a hold of his hand. When we get close to the presence of God, things will start to materialize that will affect our life. God will reveal unto us things that are deadly. Paul was regarded as the greatest writer of the New Testament. It isn’t a coincidence that the viper latched onto his hand—the viper tried to do something that would affect his writing ministry. But, Paul just shook of the serpent.
When we face a trial, it is more important how we react to our situation. We need to shake off the devil! In the midst of our storm, we don’t have time to focus on the fact that we’ve been bitten, but that the viper didn’t destroy us. We can’t stop being a believer. No matter what comes in life, we need to choose to be a believer of the doctrine of Christ!
Shipwrecked people make the best believers. If we continue to follow the Lord, we will attract others to the presence of God and ignite a desire in them to be like Christ. When we take a “bite” for Christ, others will see that we are still believing, still living for Christ, and still moving forward to face the next obstacle. Remember the Lord we serve is a mighty God and there is nothing that is impossible for Him!
