Unfamiliar Places

Acts 27:25-26, ESV

“So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”

Some island. 

Unknown. Unfamiliar. A place they’d never been.

It’s always an adventure when we do life with Jesus, but adventures don’t always feel like adventures in the beginning. The adventure on Malta started with a storm and a shipwreck, and it landed them in a place they didn’t know.

But there were so many miracles waiting for them in that place—starting with the fact that God spared every single life between the boat and the land. (Side note for someone today: God wants you to know you’re not going to drown in the in-between❤️)

Then there was the viper miracle, the healing of the chief’s father, and revival on the island.

So although this little “detour” on Malta was unfamiliar and unplanned, it turned out that it was a divine destination full of purpose.

Our unplanned adventures to unfamiliar places are often divine destinations purposed by God. God has purpose in every place he plants us, no matter how temporary—and no matter how small.

They were en route to Rome—one of the largest cities in the ancient world—and God detoured them to the tiny island of Malta. Rome was much more important to the world, but Malta was important to God. God saw opportunity and need on that island, and Paul was his answer. 

It’s never just about us. 

So many lives were impacted through that shipwreck—the people on the island and the people on the ship. Acts 27:37 tells us there were 276 people on the ship. I wonder how many of those people came to believe in Jesus.

God leads us to unfamiliar places. 

He sometimes uses uncomfortable means to get us there. 

But it’s always worth it. 

The adventure with God is always worth whatever it costs to get there.