This week we continued to teach the kids at our church about Paul’s journey to Rome, and the trouble that he encountered along the way. After Paul was shipwrecked, a venomous snake bit him; the islanders who saw what happened assumed that he must have been a criminal, and that god sent the snake to kill Paul as just punishment. However, Paul simply shook the snake off his hand into the fire and was unharmed. It is hard to say why exactly this account is in scripture, except it reveals to us God’s faithfulness. God said that Paul was to be his witness to Rome, if Paul died in route than he would not accomplish what God sent him to do. However, given all of the obstacles Paul faced it becomes apparent that the ONLY reason he made it to Rome was because of God’s work behind the sense. When God asks us to do something He is right there with us working to accomplish His goal, He does the hard work all we have to do is trust and obey! Accounts like this one help strengthen us by reminding us of this truth especially when things don’t look like they are going the way we would like!
Lesson:
After every one made it safely to shore they discovered they were on a little island called Malta. The people on the island showed the shipwrecked men kindness; they gathered wood and made a fire so that the men could warm themselves. Paul helped gather wood to keep the fire going; as he threw some wood on the fire a snake came out of the wood and bit his arm. Paul shook the snake off into the fire. All the natives thought God must have been punishing Paul for some terrible crime he had committed, and they expected him to fall down dead at any moment. However, when Paul was unaffected by the venom the men then began to say Paul must be a god.
Paul made quite a first impression on the people of Malta! While the Bible does not tell us in this account how Paul responded to the people saying he was a god, we know from other account that this did not please Paul. When others said similar things Paul responded by telling them about the One True God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and the way of salvation; I think it is safe to assume that is how he responded here.
What we do know for sure is that God proved himself faithful. God told Paul that he must go to Rome and be a witness to the men there, telling them about Jesus and the way of salvation. God will never ask us to do something and then leave us to do it on our own. He is always with us, working behind the scene so that everything works out according to His plan. Paul faced many challenges on his way to Rome; he was shipped wrecked and bitten by a poisonous snake, but God was always with him and He is the one who kept Paul safe.
We should trust God because he is God, but he knows that is hard for us. He gave us His word to help us know just how trust worthy He is; we can obey and know He is the one who will do the hard work to get things done!
I am continually amazed at how slow to catch on I am, it seems every account in scripture points to our need to trust God; yet I still find it instinctive to trust in my own judgment rather than God’s. I have to work at trusting God; I remind myself constantly that He knows better than I do, and that He does not have to run His plans by me before I accept them. I know my children have the same struggle, they often disobey because they don’t trust that I know better than they do. I think this is why so much of the Bible points us to the importance of trusting God, because the flesh naturally trusts in itself rather than God. If you think back to the garden not trusting God is what got Adam and Eve (as well as the entire human race) in such trouble; they didn’t trust that God was looking our for their best interest, and so they took matters into their own hands. God never holds out on his children, He always provided what we need (what we actually need, not what we think we need). As parents it’s important that our walks with God are consistent just like Paul’s was; our children watch us they believe what our actions tell them more than our words. In other words if we do not trust God, we cannot expect our children to either.
I am thankful that as I teach my children about God they are not the only ones who are changed, God has been very gracious to show me where I need to repent, especially of prideful self-reliance, and trust in Him. I pray that this is helpful as you labor to lead your children to the cross!
Leading Them to the Cross 