Do you ever wonder how some people just seem to not be bothered by problems as much as other people? What have they learned that we haven’t?
The Apostle Paul seems to be someone that we could say this about. He was probably the most resilient person in the bible. Except for Jesus, this man endured more hardship than any other person. A great story is found in Acts 28 when Paul found himself shipwrecked.
In this story, Paul was having a really bad day. Never mind, Paul had been having a few bad weeks. He was a prisoner in a boat on the way to Rome when a storm came up and destroyed the boat. Everything but the crew was lost and everyone had to swim for the shore. Once Paul was on the shore he began gathering wood for a fire. While minding his own business and doing what he was told he was bitten by a viper and was expected to die from it. How’s that for a day’s work? Being shipwrecked is bad enough but being bitten by a viper is icing on the cake!
The most surprising part of the story comes in Acts 28:5 when it says, “But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no ill effects.”
Instead of panicking or freaking out Paul just “shook it off” and kept working. This is a lesson that most of us need to learn. We must learn to shake things off and keep going.
We need to learn to reframe our struggles. Struggles are usually a sign you’re headed in the right direction. Paul was snake bitten because the “snake” was exposed to the heat. The enemy doesn’t like it when we put pressure on him. His usual response is to attack us.
As believers, we are warned that we will face trouble in this life. We can’t choose what we face, but we can choose how we face it. One of my life mantras is to face it until you make it!
What do you think? What do you need to shake off and keep going?
