What the Enemy Meant for Evil – Paul and the Snake

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Have you ever wondered where God was in your life? Has there been a time when you begin to fulfill God’s purpose for your life or your ministry, and you get hit from all sides? He is there with you! You can trust that. The enemy will do what he can to try to stop us. He will launch one attack after another in an attempt to steal, kill and destroy God’s will for our lives. But what the enemy meant for evil, what the enemy tries to use to his advantage, God meant it for good and will carry out His plan in our lives. (Romans 8:29)

The Lord WILL fight for you!

So join me as we look at how we can trust God’s words and that He will fight for us and turn the enemy’s evil plans into HIS perfect plan!

 

Paul is Shipwrecked

Acts 27 tells about how Paul was a prisoner on a ship that was headed for Rome with other prisoners on board. He was put in the care of a centurion named Julius.

Acts 27:1-2 says

When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan Cohort. 
So we boarded a ship from Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, and we set out to sea—accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

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They soon encountered a storm. Paul warned them of the danger but they did not listen. The lives of many people were on the line!

Acts 27:7-10

Sailing slowly for a number of days, with difficulty we made it to Cnidus. As the wind did not allow us to go further, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone. Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was already dangerous because the Fast had already gone by, Paul kept warning them, telling them, “Men, I can see that the voyage is about to end in disaster and great loss—not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives!”

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The centurion and the captain thought they could make it through safely and ignored Paul’s warning.

But the storm worsened, as did their chances. They began to throw essential cargo and even equipment overboard in the hopes of increasing their chances.

Acts 27:18-20

But because we were fighting such heavy weather, the next day they began to jettison non-essentials; and the third day, they threw the ship’s sailing equipment overboard with their own hands. For many days neither the sun nor the stars appeared, while the storm continued to rage, until gradually all hope of survival vanished.

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Good Things Come With Obedience

Acts 27:21-26 has Paul addressing the crew and his captors, assuring them that God had shown him they would not incur loss of life but that they HAD to run the ship onto land:

It was then, when they had gone a long time without eating, that Sha’ul (Paul) stood up in front of them and said, “You should have listened to me and not set out from Crete; if you had, you would have escaped this disastrous loss. But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life — only the ship will be lost. 
For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Sha’ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 
So, men, take heart! For I trust God and believe that what I have been told will come true. Nevertheless, we have to run aground on some island.”

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The angel of the Lord who appeared to Paul essentially told him not to worry! The Lord WILL fight for you and for those sailing with you! What the enemy meant for evil, the Lord WILL turn into good!

Ultimately they did encounter land where they could run aground and, while the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners rather than have them escape and face the wrath of the Emperor, the centurion who had looked out for Paul from the beginning prevented that from happening. In Acts 27:29-44 we read:

When day broke, they didn’t recognize the land; but they noticed a bay with a sand beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. So they cut away the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time, they loosened the ropes that held the rudders out of the water. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 
But they encountered a place where two currents meet, and ran the vessel aground on the sandbar there. The bow stuck and would not move, while the pounding of the surf began to break up the stern.
At this point the soldiers’ thought was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim off and escape. But the officer, wanting to save Sha’ul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and head for shore, and the rest to use planks or whatever they could find from the ship.
Thus it was that everyone reached land safely.

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What the Enemy Meant for Evil- Paul and the Viper

Now being on land, which was the Island of Malta, the islanders they encountered were very friendly and kind. They built them a fire to keep them warm because it was rainy and cold. Paul went to gather wood and, as he was placing the wood onto the fire, a viper that had jumped out because of the heat of the fire latched onto Paul’s hand.

The islanders swore Paul must be some sort of murderer that had escaped justice so now “the goddess Justice” had not allowed him to live by causing this snake to kill him.

However, Acts 28:5-6 says:

However, Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead—but after they waited a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and began to say he was a god.

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Paul shook it off!

He didn’t panic and he didn’t worry about his life. He just merely shook it off!

God’s Goodness – A Healing Hand

Acts 28:7-8 goes on to tell us:

Now in the vicinity around that place were lands belonging to the most prominent man of the island, named Publius. He welcomed us and hosted us warmly for three days. 
It so happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and, when he had prayed and laid hands on him, he healed him.

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Paul was bitten on the hand by the viper. It was intended to kill him. But, that same hand that the viper struck, Paul laid on Publius’ father and healed him.

What the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good.

The hand that the enemy attempted to use for evil events, God used for healing. The Lord WILL fight for you when the enemy tries to stop God’s work in your life. He cannot stop what God has begun! The great love God has for you will get you through all the hard times if you trust Him to do it.

What the devil meant for evil, God intended for good. Share on X

When Bad Things Come, Shake it Off!

The very area the enemy attacks you with, the area of your life, the area of your ministry, the area of your marriage, God can turn it around and use it for healing! The very hand the enemy bites you on, will be the hand that heals!

You see, when the enemy attacks you and comes against you the Lord will fight for you and use it for good! He will use it to heal something in your life or someone else’s through you!

Your story, your struggle, is not in vain! That struggle is what God will take and use for His purposes.

For people who are faith bloggers, we share our stories and our lessons because it could help someone else. It could bring healing to them.

We make a ministry out of sharing the things that we struggle with. These things are the ‘hands’ that are bitten by the viper!

The ‘hand’ that the viper bit in my life was my stroke!

I was building my blogging ministry and then suffered a stroke in the summer of 2019. The only thing affected by it was my cognitive function. I couldn’t write.

I tried! I sat down days later and began a blog post about my experience and then stopped. I went back to it a couple of weeks later and read what I had written and it was as though a child had written it.

So I went in and fixed it, realizing as I did, how much better I was after just a few weeks. I got the post done and KNEW it would help others who were going through situations like mine. I knew my story would help encourage someone and let them know that, like me, the Lord will fight for you. My story tells about that very thing.

The viper tried to kill me with that bite but God’s place in my life was solid and strong and I am alive today (2 strokes later now)!

And like Paul, when that bite happens, we need to shake it off!

Paul was able to shake off that snake and not fear death because Paul knew God had a plan for him. God wasn’t done with Paul. Paul had his marching orders. He knew it wasn’t his time to die.

Paul was able to shake off that snake and not fear death because Paul knew God had a plan for him! Share on X

The Lord WILL Fight For You – Just Trust His Plan

When we go through attacks and trials from the enemy, when we know what our calling is and we know what God’s will for us is, we can just shake it off. 

We know from His Word that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

It is not our battle to fight alone. The battle belongs to the Lord!

When the enemy comes against us with his attacks, do we put our faith and trust in God’s plan and purpose for our lives, our ministry, our marriage?

If we are called to our ministry, do we lose faith and hope when the enemy comes against us? Do we trust that God has a plan and a purpose that he will carry out?

Shake Off That Snake

Know the place of God in your life and shake off the snake! Keep moving forward in His good purpose, not fearing the attacks of the enemy! 

God is in control! The Lord will fight for you and win the battle! He will use the broken pieces of your life to speak into the lives of numerous people! Your life, your fight, is your testimony!

You have a story to share that is someone’s healing! Shake off the snake and tell your story!

There’s an old saying that I love; “Speak the truth and shame the devil!”

So speak your truth! Speak out with your story!! Place that snake bitten hand on someone and heal them! When God meant for good cannot be stopped by the enemy!

So speak your truth! Speak out with your story!! Place that bitten hand on someone and help them heal! When God meant it for good it cannot be stopped by the enemy! Share on X

Be sure to get your FREE Prayers and Scriptures for Effective Spiritual Warfare Workbook below as my gift to you!

 

CJB – Taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029. www.messianicjewish.net.

Tree of Life (TLV) – Scripture taken from the Holy Scriptures, Tree of Life Version*. Copyright © 2014,2016 by the Tree of Life Bible Society.  Used by permission of the Tree of Life Bible Society.

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