My soon to be daughter-in-love (law), Morgan Jennings, wrote the best blog the other day and I wanted to share it with you! If you love it like I do, share it!!!!

Ever taken some really BAD advice?
I’m sure you can relate to these guys.

Paul warns some sailors to stay docked in Crete, NOT to set sail. “There is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives.”

BUT the sailors decided to listen to the ship’s officers instead. They probably told him something like, “Leave it to the professionals, buddy,” or “We can take it from here…” Little did they know what they were headed for.

Here Comes The Storm
A storm of hurricane proportion struck, and for fourteen days the ship was battered and beaten. Paul stepped in again, “Men, you should have listened to me and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. None of you will lose your lives, but the ship will go down.” (from Acts 27)

How many ships could we be sinking in OUR lives? Ships of blessing, ships of opportunity, because we’re listening to the wrong people! What voices, even “professional” voices, are we listening to instead of God’s? The Wall Street Journal, co-workers, Doctor Phil, CNN?

The sailors losing their ship was a BIG deal. Think about it this way… I like to picture these guys a lot like Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, crossing the seven seas to be reunited with his beloved Black Pearl. His ship was his IDENTITY. Without his ship, he was no longer our comical hero Cap’n Jack, but just Jack.

God Of Another Chance
God was ready to give our sailors a NEW identity. So He sent another test.

The storm swelled. The sailors decided to abandon the ship. As they lowered the lifeboats into the water, Paul stopped them.

“Paul said, ‘you will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.’ So they cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.” Acts 27:31

It was all or nothing, and this time around, they decided to listen to the RIGHT voice.

This reminds me of a story. In 1521, it only took 3 words for Hernan Cortés, Captain of the Spanish Armada, to change the history of the New World. He landed on the shores of the Aztec Empire with an absurdly low number of soldiers and weapons. With impossible odds at his back, just before he and his men marched to face their enemies, Cortés ordered, “Burn the ships.”

In doing this, there was no longer an exit strategy. They were left with only 2 choices — die, or ensure victory. And fight they did!

Cortés became the first man in over 600 years to successfully conquer the land we now know as Mexico.

I’ve learned that sometimes, the BEST WAY to obey God, is to remove my back-up plan. Avoid the opportunity for disobedience.

Paul’s sailors may have lost that ship, but they didn’t lose everything!

Be encouraged! Know that God is sending a NEW ship of blessing your way today! All we have to do, is listen to HIS voice.