(The following is the June 12 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Acts 27 and pay close attention to verses 22-25.)
Who do we trust the most when faced with conflicting advice and truth claims? Teenagers must decide whether to trust friends, parents, teachers, leaders, public figures, or others. College students hear conflicting opinions from professors, students, and campus organizations. Young adults making career decisions choose between insights from their limited experience and guidance from those more experienced. Business and government leaders must distinguish between self-serving decisions and what best meets the needs of those they lead and serve. Christians make daily decisions about following Christ and trusting His Word and leadership over other influences.
In light of these daily dilemmas, how do we discern what is best? Paul’s experience aboard a ship that would eventually shipwreck gives us a clue. Before the shipwreck, an angel appeared to Paul and told him, “Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you” (v. 24). Paul informed those on the ship about this and added, “So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me” (v. 25).
Paul’s ultimate trust was neither in his wisdom nor the knowledge of others but in what God revealed. Admittedly, the Bible doesn’t explicitly answer every question or day-to-day decision we face. Still, we can trust biblical teaching and principles and the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Paul believed God that “it will be just the way it was told to me.” We can trust God’s Word with the same confidence. “Did not the Lord hang the world on nothing but his word? And cannot we hang our souls there, too?” *
Next Step:
Have God’s Word and the Holy Spirit helped you make previous significant decisions? Is there a current situation where they should be your primary sources of direction rather than less reliable sources?
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* CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, ed. Alistair Begg (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1507.
