You’ve Got to Be Kidding

GETTING STARTED

Ever been at a place in life where you think, “If one more thing goes wrong, I’m not sure I am going to make it?” I remember one particular two-year stretch that was like that for my wife and me. Jill encountered some eye issues. A close friend and young mother of three going through a divorce had a major stroke. One of my closest friends committed suicide. We experienced a long season of working through conflict with people we love. There have been moments in all of our lives when we have thought that if one more tragedy or one more sad thing happened, we weren’t going to make it. Today’s passage describes a similar scenario for the apostle Paul.

  • What difficulties have you recently encountered?

READ THE WORD: ACTS 28:1-6 (ESV)

28:1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. What obstacles did Paul and those traveling with him encounter?
  2. How did Paul respond when the viper bit him? How did the islanders respond?
  3. Why do you think this story is included in the book of Acts?
  4. How do you respond to obstacles in your life? Why do you respond that way, and what does it reveal about your faith?

RESPOND TO GOD

If we back up a little from this specific event and take a thirty-thousand foot view of Acts, we are reminded that nothing can thwart the plans of God. Nothing can stop the spread of the gospel. Not prison. Not storms at sea. Not being shipwrecked. Not landing on an island inhabited by barbarians. Not even being bitten by a viper. This story is less about what the island people thought and much more about what Paul knew to be true of God. Paul reminds us that we can trust God… period. No matter how scary or difficult or painful the trials and obstacles we face, nothing, absolutely nothing can thwart God’s plan.

  • Thank God for being bigger than your circumstances, or the obstacles you currently face, or the difficulties you have encountered.
  • Ask God to grow you so that when you “get bit by a viper,” you respond with a deep trust in him.