Tag: Paul on Malta

Meant for Good

Old Testament: 1 Kings 9-10

Poetry: Psalm 120

*New Testament: Acts 28


Paul’s 3-month stint on Malta feels like a fever dream. Paul, the crew, and his fellow prisoners aboard the ship find refuge on a not-so deserted island, Malta. The indigenous people of Malta welcome their cold and wet selves with open arms and “unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2), building a fire to warm them. As Paul tends to the fire, a venomous snake bites him. The people of Malta are quick to assume that he is a murderer getting the justice he deserves. Of course, Paul just shakes the snake off like it’s no big deal. Miraculously, Paul doesn’t drop dead and his wound doesn’t even swell. Having witnessed this miracle, the people are now convinced that Paul is a god.


After three days of enjoying the Maltese hospitality, Paul visits a man who was sick to minister to him:


It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured (Acts 28:8-9, ESV).


What was an unplanned setback turned into an opportunity for healing and sharing the gospel. God had a purpose for this season—the same season that Paul could have overlooked as an unnecessary and unpredictable setback on his journey to share his testimony in Rome.


Joseph, who was no stranger to suffering and had a life full of mishaps, once
declared:


As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20, ESV).


In the same way, God meant Malta for good. Paul’s influence seems to have changed the entire trajectory of this little island. Now, in modern times, it seems half the island is named after Paul. The little island off the coast where Paul supposedly washed ashore, the cave where Paul supposedly stayed, cathedrals, catacombs, and parishes each boast his name. Historians have found that the timing of Paul’s visit lines up very closely to the timing of Malta’s adoption of Christianity. Skeptics find this link uncanny; I find it divine.


There is purpose in every season, even when you can’t yet see it. Just like He did with Paul, God is redeeming parts of your story. Where you see setbacks, He sees opportunity.

-Mackenzie McClain


Reflection Questions:

  1. The people of Malta were “unusually kind” to Paul and his fellow shipmates. Who in your life needs your unusual kindness?
  2. How have you seen God redeem parts of your story? How has he turned setbacks, failures, or heartbreaks into good?
  3. What parts of your story can you still surrender to God?
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Unexpected Places

Unexpected Purposes

Acts 28

Have there been times in your life where you’ve been taken somewhere you didn’t expect? Last spring, I was taking a drive when I became lost on some of the backroads. I was filled with uncertainty about my location and starting to get anxious about finding my way back. As I found myself where I didn’t expect to be, a lost lamb appeared on the road. It was nearly hit by oncoming traffic as it frantically sprinted down the pavement. The cream and brown spotted lamb was panting from exhaustion. It was scared and confused. Because I was at this unexpected intersection, I was able to get the lamb off the road and put it in my truck. After searching for its farm and calling the sheriff, eventually it was reunited with its home. Sometimes it is the places that we don’t see coming, where we prove to be the most useful.

In Acts 28 we learn about Paul’s experiences on the island where he and the rest of the people on his ship came to be shipwrecked. As we read yesterday, Paul’s journey was quite wild. But God had delivered them safely to this Island called Malta. When Paul left for Rome, he probably never expected to make a pit stop, let alone be shipwrecked at this place. Yet, this was where he was taken, and it was not without purpose.

            On this island, in the middle of the Mediterranean, Paul was able to interact with the people. These inhabitants of Malta saw something different about Paul as they had witnessed him being delivered from the sea and from a snake bite. And then Paul was able to pray for and heal their sick. An island that might not have been a priority for people of that time to take the gospel to had nonetheless witnessed it through Paul’s unexpected stay there.

So, although this time and stay in Malta had been unexpected, it proved useful and it exposed others to the One True God. So, while you may at times find yourself in an unexpected place, do not be discouraged. Sometimes it is the most unexpected places in our lives that God uses us for an unexpected purpose.

-Hannah Deane

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – 1 Kings 13-14 and Acts 28

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