Trusting God in the Chaos (Bonus Episode) - 315

Life is rarely hard in just one way at a time. You make it through the storm and then, somehow, you get hit again on the shore. That’s why we’re going to Paul’s most relatable stretch of chaos: a brutal storm, a shipwreck he didn’t choose, an unexpected landing on Malta, and then a snakebite while he’s simply trying to help.

This week, we walk through Acts 27 and Acts 28 with one big idea: you don’t always get a reason, but you can always walk in revelation. Some of what you face isn’t because you did everything wrong. Sometimes it’s the fallout of someone else’s decision. Sometimes it’s an attack that God repurposes. Either way, if we stay trapped in the “why,” we can drown in it. Revelation keeps you anchored to what God has already said: His purpose is still intact, His presence is still near, and your calling is not canceled by the storm.

Malta becomes more than a location. It’s the season you didn’t plan, the relationship shift, the job loss, the lonely stretch, the marriage pressure, the place that feels small and cold and unfamiliar. And the snakebite moment exposes something else: people will rush to label your suffering, but your response matters more than their conclusions. When Paul shakes it off, the very hand that was bitten becomes the hand God uses to bring healing and change a whole island.

If this encouraged you, subscribe, share the episode with someone in a Malta moment, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s your Malta right now?

SF

Transcript

When The Storm Won’t Let Up

Daniel Moore 0:07

Let's be honest. Most of us don't struggle with trusting God when everything is going right. It's when the storm won't let up, when the sky stays dark, and when life feels like it's been stuck on repeat for days, or weeks, or seasons. That we start asking, God, why? And if we're really honest, we don't just ask why, we need to know why. We want a reason, an explanation, something that makes it make sense. But what if in the middle of your storm God isn't trying to give you a reason? What if he's trying to give you a revelation? Well in this week's episode, we're diving into one of the most chaotic, frustrating, and honestly kind of relatable moments in Paul's life. Shipwrecked, stranded, cold, and then bitten by a snake. I mean, come on, Paul. At some point you gotta be like, really, Lord? We're still doing this? It's like when you finally fix one problem and another one shows up five minutes later. Like your kid's being extra nice out of nowhere and you're thinking, alright, what do you want? Yeah, those are Malta moments. But buried in all the chaos is a powerful truth. Sometimes what feels like a stepback is actually divine positioning. Sometimes the storm wasn't sent to destroy you, it was sent to deliver you somewhere you never planned to go. And the question isn't always, why did this happen? But what am I going to do while I'm here? So whether you feel stuck, shipwrecked, but you're straight up bitten by life lately, this episode is for you. Welcome to Marriage Life and More. This is a podcast about marriage, Bible, and book studies, and we interview people that have inspiring stories. I'm Daniel Moore, your host, and this week, my beautiful co-host Michelle is sick. So you're stuck with me. But thank you guys for joining us this week. If you're not familiar with our show, check out our website at marriagelifeandmore.com. Our platforms or YouTube and Rumble links are there. We're also on the Christian Podcasting app Edifi, and we're also on your Alexa and Google Smart Devices. You can also visit us on social on Facebook, Instagram, and X at CTGAP Online. And if you're a fan of our show, please subscribe. Feel free to leave a comment on our platforms, give us a thumbs up or five-star review on Apple Podcast, and we'd be thankful to you for doing that. Well, as I said, my wife Michelle is sick this week, and we have not been able to record an episode. And I thought maybe she might be getting a little better, but then just when we thought that, it got worse. And I guess maybe today's episode might actually relate to some of that of what she's going through right now. But be saying a prayer for her. Hopefully, she'll be getting on the mend here and getting back into shape. And hopefully, next week we'll be back together again and we will continue our series at that point on marriage as a mission. So this week we're going to take a little bit of a break from that series for that reason. And I'm going to give you guys a special episode. And this episode does have to do with marriage in some ways. Sometimes when we are walking our married life with our spouses, everything just doesn't go the way we want it to sometimes. And sometimes we feel like we're just stuck out on an island, and that island can be called Malta. We're going to talk about that this week. First of all, though, I'm going to be doing a book signing at a bookstore in Webb City, Missouri on May the 9th. It'll be from 1 to 3 p.m. on that Saturday afternoon. If any of you live close that listen to me here on the podcast with Connecting the Gap, or you listen to us on Marriage Life and more, I'd love to meet you guys if you're a regular listener, or if you haven't got a copy of our book yet, please come in. I've got uh all my books I'll have there, and we'll be doing a book signing. And I would love to see you guys and just be able to meet you and talk face to face. So put that on your calendar. That is May 9th from 1 to 3 p.m. at Somewhere in Time Bookstore in Webb City, Missouri, is where it's going to be taking place. And I hope to see you there. Well, this week, as I said, I'm going to do a special episode for you guys, kind of old school style. Back when I first started this podcast, I used to do a lot of little Bible study type episodes, and we're going to do another one this week. And this one this week is titled Trusting God in the Chaos. When a crisis occurs, often our first reaction is to question God and ask why it had to happen. But what if there's a better way to respond? Sometimes the right response to a situation is often more important than learning the reasons behind it. This is a discussion about faith and fear. In Acts chapter 27, verse 20, Paul is in the middle of a miracle, but he's also in the middle of a mistake. And sometimes the two are the same thing. That's about perspective. The Bible says in Acts 27, 20, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and the storm continued raging. Because it was one of those things that wouldn't let up. It was not the kind of trial that you go through and just go through it. It's like when you don't see any end in sight. It was that kind of thing. So what happened was they lost all their hope, and they quit believing that they could be saved, that it could be different, and that they could be delivered. And right at the time that they started to let go of their hope, God spoke to Paul in a powerful way. And of course, Paul was that great missionary who took the gospel to the Gentiles, so it was a good thing for them that he was on board. So the Bible says as it continues in Acts twenty seven, twenty one, after they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, Men, you should have taken my advice not to sell from Crete, and then you would have spared yourself this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost, only the ship will be destroyed. Here's how I know. Last night an angel of the Lord to whom I belong, and whom I serve, stood beside me, and said, Do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand trial before Caesar. So, in other words, you can't go down in this battle because I got a bigger one ahead of you. As the ripture continues, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sell with you. twenty five, so keep up your courage, men, for I have faith that it will happen, just as he told me. Nevertheless, you know, we must run aground on some island, but it will happen. Because Paul, as spiritual as he is, is apparently not above telling someone, I told you so. Because he had warned the sailors who were on this ship that was headed to Rome, they were trying to get to Italy, and Paul was on there for preaching the gospel. He didn't do anything wrong. But sometimes the reason that you go through things isn't because of something wrong that you did. Even as a Christian, sometimes the things you go through are directly connected to something you did right. And you can't always know the reason, and that's kind of difficult for me really. I always want to know the reason, and I feel like I'm really good at dealing with resistance if I know the reason for it. Even with people, I'm kind of skeptical. I don't always take people at face value for what they say that they want in a relationship, and I probably shouldn't be so paranoid. I mean my beautiful wife Michelle, she tells me I should trust people more, but I think she should trust people less. So we just balance each other out. I really do think you should trust people less because people will say that they want to be your friend for this reason, and sometimes there's a deeper reason. I know I can't go through life living like that. You should assume the best about people and all of that, but sometimes I get in situations where I'm like, hmm, you know, I really wonder what that real reason is. Like even with my kids, you know, if my kids, if they're too nice to me, you know, if they hold me a little too tight or if they come running a little too fast, well, I know there's a reason behind that affection and there's a want. So I hear Paul. He's on a ship that he doesn't believe he rightfully belongs on, taken a prisoner for a crime that he didn't commit, and being accused of things that he didn't do. And I hear when he's talking. I kind of hear two things. I hear faith, it will happen, and I hear frustration, this didn't have to happen. And I hear both of those things. He says, if you would have taken my advice, you would have spared yourself this damage and loss. In other words, the reason we're about to wreck is because of a decision that you made. But if we stay too long in the reason, we're going to drown. Because what matters at some point is you have to try getting past to figure out why it happened. And this is difficult for those of us who want to know a reason. When I am talking to someone and maybe they've gone through a loss or a tragedy, and I say, I would like to pray with you, there's a temptation for me to try to give them a reason for why it happened. I always feel compelled to give them a reason, you know, like God is going to use this for good. You know, Romans 8 28 and Jeremiah 29 11. Every little coffee cup verse that I could spin out at them just as fast as I could, you know, there's a reason for that. And I realize that at some point during giving people reasons, sometimes people don't need a reason when they're in the middle of a storm. They just need a reassurance that God's not going to leave them alone in it. So when someone that you love is suffering, don't be so quick to give them a reason. Don't be so quick to point your finger. People don't need a reason when they're going through a great trial. What they need is someone to reassure them that God is with you. And so am I. So here's Paul standing in the middle of a storm, and the reason it is happening is because of their dumb decision. Have you ever had to go through a storm because of somebody else's dumb decision? I mean, Paul says if we would have done it this way, because not everything that happens to you happened because God wanted it to happen to you, and certainly not everything that happens to you happens because the devil did it. Because if the devil did it, then God had to allow it. I think sometimes, you know, we get the wrong word. Sometimes because I think they both start with the letter D, we get confused. Sometimes it's not the devil, it's a decision. So Paul says this didn't have to happen like this. And those are the hardest for me. Really, the hardest for me is when I feel like this was avoidable, and when I feel like I could have avoided it, but yet it's inevitable, and I go through it anyway. I no longer try to figure out whether God did it or if the devil did it, because it has to pass through the same hands before it gets to me. And I've read enough of the Bible to know that God will use other people's bad decisions to get me to my destiny. I've seen enough play out to know that Joseph, at the end of his life, was only able to look at his brothers and say, Don't even worry about it, because you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. So which one is it? Evil or good? Well, it was both. I mean, why can't it be both? Why can't it be an attack from the devil that God used and put to good usage and repurpose in order to accomplish something? I mean, that's what Paul is saying. It didn't have to happen. I don't want you to blame this on God. We could have avoided this. You didn't have to date them. Your mom told you they were crazy, and you wouldn't listen to anybody. But if we stay stuck in the reason, we're gonna miss the revelation. Paul says, you know, there's a reason this happened, and it could have been avoided. But last night while the storm was raging, last night I was all alone, and God showed up and reminded me that his purpose is still intact, even if the ship goes down. It had to happen. And God doesn't tell Paul a whole series of explanations, he doesn't give him a reason, he gives him a revelation. Revelation is more powerful than reason. You can't fight the devil with a reason because sometimes you don't know the reason. Sometimes you have to go back to who God showed you that he was. And God is very tactical in this, so he will create a situation for a revelation. So he will let Lazarus die, and he loves Lazarus, and when they tell him that Lazarus died, he'll say, I'm glad it happened. Jesus actually said, I'm glad he died. Why? Because now we've got a situation, and the situation is what enables the revelation. It's not just true because it rhymes, it's true because it's true. Up until this point, they knew him as healer. Now they needed to know him as resurrection. And so he said, I'm glad it went wrong. I'm glad it went poorly. Paul said we must run aground on some island. And sometimes when you ask God for a reason, he will bypass the reason and give you a revelation. You still belong to me. You're still my child. You know, I don't operate by reason. If I operate by reason, sometimes I'll be up, sometimes I'll be down. I operate by revelation. I know he is good and he does good. I know he's with me and I know he's for me. I know he'll never leave me nor forsake me. That's my revelation. So when you get in trouble, you don't need a reason, you need a revelation. Now sometimes I'd tell my kids to do something and they would say, Why? As in saying, I'll do it if you tell me the reason. It's like they were saying, We're not the kind of person who can just do something without knowing the reason. Did you ever see The Simpsons when Homer grabbed Bart around the neck? And I know I probably couldn't do that when they said I need a reason. And I looked back at them and the only thing that came to me was I looked at them and the spirit of Star Wars came on me and I said, I am your father. You kids don't need a reason to do it. You need a revelation of who I am. Well, Paul says we're going to make it, but the boat isn't. The boat has to break. But we're going to make it. We will suffer loss, but we will not lose what's most important, and that's the promise. You know what's amazing about this story? It happened just like Paul said it would. And they all got to shore. And they got to that island. In Acts 28 1, and when they got there, the Bible says, Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The word Malta means refuge. So the grace of God does not always prevent the consequence, but it gives you a place to land. So we must run aground on some island. And when we got there, we found out the island was called Malta. And it must be a relief now that we're no longer on these open seas, because they spent weeks thrashing around wondering if they'd ever see dry land again. And then they get to the place. In verse two it says, The islanders showed us unusual kindness. Well, the islanders, that's a kind term. The actual word that is used here from Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, is barbarians. He called them that because they didn't speak his language. Malta is an unfamiliar place. They built the fire and welcomed us, all because it was raining and cold. Now imagine this. Let's empathize with Paul for a minute, because he survived a shipwreck, only to shiver in the cold of an unfamiliar island and an unfamiliar language, and he survived. But now the place where he is is unfamiliar to him. I mention that because many times in my life I have found myself on Malta. Have you ever been to Malta? If you look on a map where Malta is, that's where the wind blew him around for like several weeks. That's Malta, where they landed. There's a little tiny island called Malta. It's very, very tiny, very, very small. That's where Paul was going. He was going to Rome, and that's where the wind blew him was Malta. That's where Paul had always wanted to visit Rome when he would stand trial for Caesar and be used as God's great spokesman, the most powerful place in the world in his day. Well, have you ever ended up somewhere you never planned on being? Have you ever been to Malta? Malta is the place that you didn't plan on staying. Malta is the season you didn't plan on experiencing. Malta is that layoff that you didn't see coming. Malta is the relationship that you didn't see ending. Malta is the emotional place that you never thought you'd experience. You saw other people depressed. You never thought you'd be depressed. You saw other people's kids act crazy. You thought yours would act right. Malta is that place where you're twenty-eight and single. Malta is that place where someone who was there for you is no longer there for you. Have you ever been to Malta? What is somebody as important as Paul doing somewhere as small as Malta? Well, let's find out. The Bible says that Paul got to Malta and survived the shipwreck. Have you ever survived anything? You ever gave up hope, and just when you gave up hope, hope didn't give up on you and grabbed hold of you in the depths? The Bible says that those islanders were so kind to the prisoners, 276 of them in all, that they built them a fire. And Paul was such a good dude, he decided to help. So they're building a fire, and Paul grabs a piece of wood, and there in verse three it says he gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on the fire trying to help, a snake came out. So let's go back now to everything that's happened to Paul. He's imprisoned for preaching the gospel, he's shipwrecked because the sailors are too stupid to follow his advice. Now he's cold on Malta, he's stuck and standing, shivering in the cold, uncertain in an unfamiliar place, and just as he thinks he's made it to safety and the fire is starting to get warm, he gets struck by a snake. I mean at this point, this story's almost comical. Unless you've been there, just when you thought the fight was going to be over, here comes something else. And this snake pops up out of the fire that Paul was simply trying to build them on an island called Malta, where he never even planned to go. And the Bible says it fastened itself onto his hand. This thing bit down on Paul, and watch what the people did. I mean you gotta be careful about people because when that happens, people will always assign a reason to why you're going through what you're going through. They'll say, Well, if I were her husband, I would have left too. I mean, people will say stuff like that to you. Not to you. I mean, they they never say it to you, they just think it about you. They think that the reason bad things happened to you is because of something that you did. Well, the islanders, they're watching this guy who's got a snake on his hand who just came crawling out of the sea with some seaweed around his ears, and he claims to be a preacher, he claims to be a servant of God. And so if you're a servant of God, why isn't God protecting you? Has the devil tried to convince you lately that if you really had a God you wouldn't be going through what you're going through? So they stood back, and when they saw the snake hanging from his hand, which means it was there for a minute, when they saw the snake hanging from his hand, they drew their own conclusions. He must have done something wrong. In Acts 28, 4 it says he must be a murderer, he must be out of the will of God. For though he escaped the sea, the goddess justice has not allowed him to live. And I love the next verse because Paul preached one of the most powerful sermons in the New Testament. When Paul saw them looking and he knew he had a captive audience, verse 5 says that when Paul saw them looking, he said, and this may not be in your Bible. I'm reading from the TSV, the Taylor Swift version, he said, players are gonna play, play, play. Come on, y'all. We got to go back to 2014 for a minute. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate. You know, five times that's a quintuplet in the New Testament. Heartbreaker's gonna break, break. Okay, so we get the point here. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan. Paul's response that's the next word that we want to talk about is response. He didn't say a word. He didn't try to convince them that God was with him. He didn't feel sorry for himself, he didn't go on Facebook and write a response. John's post. I mean, watch what he did. He did what you've got to learn how to do when you make it through the storm and all hell breaks loose on the shore. When they talk about you, when it looks like this is the end, when you've been through it and it keeps coming. The Bible says shake it off. Shake it off right now before it gets in your system. Shake it off right now before it kills you. Shake it off right now while they're standing around watching. You've got to shake it off. You don't take a vote from the island committee to see whether or not they think God is with you. No, Paul said I got a revelation. God already told me I'm going to Rome, so I can't die on this island. I already know he'll never leave me or forsake me. I already know I'm more than a conqueror. I already know. So if I'm going to Rome, I can't die on Malta. So when the snake fell off of Paul's hand and died in the fire, it wasn't a surprise to him. He knew it had to happen. He had to survive. He had to make it. He had to go through it. He had to get through it. God had to prove his power. For everybody who's been wondering why you've been stuck on the Y land, you know what I'm saying? You've been so busy trying to figure out a reason, and God is trying to give you a revelation. Not just you, but everybody that's watching you. God wants everybody to see you shake it off. God wants everybody around you to see you trust in him, though he slay you. That's why the snake had to bite him. Because faith doesn't prevent me from getting bit. Faith doesn't prevent me from washing up on shore. What I love about it is that after Paul shook the snake off, the people stood back and watched to see what was going to happen next. Because that's just what people do. They don't bring you an ice pack or an aspirin. They will stand there and watch you. The Bible says that they were shocked because they expected him to swell up. You know, you got some people that are surprised that you made it, and they're surprised that you're still happy. You know, they thought when they broke your heart you were going to quit. But look at you in church, worshiping God, serving God, and believing God. So they're like, oh, let's see what happens next. So they waited a long time, and when they saw that he didn't swell up or turn into a walker, they changed their mind. This is why you cannot put your confidence in people. They changed their minds and said, He's a god. One minute he's a murderer, now he's a god. One minute Hosanna, the next minute crucify him. That's why your response cannot be to people. And I'll show you one more thing. So he shakes off the snake, they think he's gonna die, but he doesn't die, and this is a cool place to end the discussion, I think, but I want to give you something that will maybe help you. Is there anybody listening who's found yourself in Malta recently? It could be a season, it could be a multiple reasons. It's that stuck place. I think these are the kinds of questions, the generic questions that people like to ask because we know that it's guaranteed to get a hundred percent participation. I mean, who doesn't feel stuck from time to time? That's kind of the point, isn't it? Isn't that what we all must go through on Malta? And Paul at this point in the story has a decision to make misery or mission. Because we already read that it was rainy and cold, we already read that it was unfamiliar. We already read that the man almost died, and now he has a decision to make, and so do you about this season in your life. Paul didn't decide to go to Malta, but now he has to decide what to do while he's there. He can sit and wait to get off this stupid island, or he can do in Malta what he did in Jerusalem. So Paul, they think he's a god now, so they're like, hey, this guy's important. And apparently the chief of the island hears about it, and he wants to have dinner with this guy who can survive a snake bite. So the next lesson, your opportunities in life will be the byproduct of adversity that you go through. And Paul gets invited to the home of the official on the island because he was able to stand up under trial. You know, we keep praying for the opportunity, but we don't want to stand up under the adversity. So it had to happen. You know, I had to go through something. I had to prove perseverance. That's the only way my faith would grow to enable the opportunity. Well, in verse 7 it says, So there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius. And, you know, this guy, he's important, and he wants to see the guy who was able to stand up after the snake bite and survive the shipwrecked. So the scripture continues, and he welcomed all of them into the home and showed generous hospitality for three days. And I imagine in Paul's thinking, this is nice, but at some point during Paul's stay, he learns that Publius has a problem. And Publius's problem is about to become Paul's opportunity, because Publius's father was sick in bed with the Malta fever, and it's bad. He's got temperatures and dysentery, and Paul, when he heard about it, went into seam. Now the way I picture it, and you know, maybe I'm using too much of my imagination, but I imagine that they're sitting down to a mill and Paul sees somebody wheeled into the room and says, Who's that? And Publius says, It's my dad. And Paul says, Well, what's wrong with him? And Publius says, Well, he's sick, and there's nothing we can do about it. Well imagine about right here is where Paul started smiling, which seems kind of weird, but maybe this is the moment that Paul realizes there was a reason I went through the storm. There was a reason that that hurricane hit. There was a reason that the ship had to break apart, and there was a reason that he had to run aground on Malta. Paul said, Can I seem? Can we have a moment? And the Bible says that when Paul went in to seem, he prayed for him. And Paul put his hand on Publius dad's head, and when he put his hand on his head, the Bible says he was healed, which is a miracle all in its own. But what made it even more amazing to me was to realize that the same hand that the healing came through was the same hand that had a snake hanging from it just three days ago. You know, my brother one time bit my sister. She went to tell my mom, hey, Stephen just bit me. She said, Did you bite him back? My sister said, Well no. My mom said, Well go upstairs and tell your brother, you can bite me again if you want to, but mom said to tell you if you bite me, I'll bite you back. Now that might not be good parenting, but we need to tell the devil, I bite back. The same hand that the snake bit became the same hand that the healing came from. You know what did you go through that you wish you wouldn't have gone through, that you never should have gone through? Well Jesus came to declare over your life, it does not matter the reason, what matters is your response. You're on Malta now, and Malta is what you make of it. The Bible says after he laid his hands on that man's head, word got around the whole island, this guy's got something. This guy knows somebody. When he put his hand on the father's head, the Bible said the whole island came, and all of a sudden now Publius had to turn his house into a church building, and the whole island got healed. It had to happen. The final word we discussed this week is release. It's about the release. When Paul was going through the storm, he said we must run aground on some island. It had to happen. Paul thought he needed Malta, but it turns out Malta needed Paul. There's a purpose for it. We don't need a reason. We got a revelation. God is with us. He is good. He does good. It had to happen. I'm not saying God did it, I'm saying he'll use it now. So what are you gonna do on Malta? That small place. You've been working your rear off and feel like nobody appreciates you. That's your Malta. You've been praying for a ring and you can't even get a text back. That could be your Malta. You know, I never wanted to be on Malta, but Paul said, Now that I'm here, who can I heal? Matter of fact, y'all got any more snakes? I wish another snake would bite me because if that much power can come from the pain, who else can we heal through prayer? And while they were getting ready for a wreck, God was positioning them for a revival. This is the mistake that turned into a miracle, that then turned into a mission. And God wants us to know today, who are spending time in Malta right now, God wants you to know that your supply is in your assignment. Paul could have sat there on Malta moping about what he went through on the Adriatic Sea, but he turned into a mission and the whole island got healed. Maybe what you went through wasn't even about you. Maybe it's generational. You know that's what a friend of mine told his dad before he died. He said, I know your life was hard, I know it was a living hell, I know your father abused you, I know you had to suffer through many things, but you broke it. You broke it. It had to happen. You had to go through it so I wouldn't have to, so I could breathe, so I can stand. You know, sometimes it's not about us. Paul decided to bite back. With his hand still swollen from the snake bite, suck that poison out and turn it into power. I'm bit, but I'm not bitter. What you go through makes you who you are. Realize that healing is in your hands. God brought you to Malta, and when you're in the middle of the storm, it seems like there's often no sense of guidance. And when your boat is being blown around and you have no control over it, it's a scary thing to be out on the Mediterranean Sea with nothing to look at for light. And to arrive at a cold place only to be met by the sting of a viper. We've been there before in our own life, but it had to happen. Because while the wind was controlling the boat, God was controlling the wind. I'm not saying that he did it, but if God allowed it, we can accept it. If you can accept it, the very place where you were injured will be at the very place that your purpose comes forth from. It had to happen. Even the mistakes had to happen because God needed us here in Malta right now. It's a shift in perspective from all of us that have perceived ourselves as stuck on Malta. It's a paradigm shift. We're not stuck, we're stationed. There is an assignment on Malta with your name on it. So even if they did it, God's gonna use it. This is my Malta. The Bible says in verse 10 that when they were ready, when the assignment was completed, they honored us in many ways. And when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies that we needed. God said, if you'll do what I put you there to do, I will give you what you need for where I'm taking you. Once again, thanks for sticking with me to this episode. Michelle hopes we'll be back next week and we can get back to our series on marriage as a mission. Please subscribe and share these episodes to people that might want to hear that. You can visit our website at marriagelifeandmore.com to learn everything about our ministry and to reach out to us if you'd like to talk to us here about anything here at Marriage Life and More. Well, as a wrap up this week, here's the truth that we've been building toward this entire episode. You don't always get a reason, but you can always walk in revelation. Paul never got a full explanation for the storm, the shipwreck, or even the snake bite. But what he did get was a reminder. God's purpose was still intact. And sometimes that's the only thing you need to hold on to. When life doesn't make sense, when it feels avoidable, when it feels unfair, you anchor yourself not in what you can explain, but what it God has already revealed. And maybe that's where some of you are right now. You're on Malta. It's not where you plan to be, it's uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and if you're honest, a little disappointing. But you're not stuck, you're stationed. There is an assignment in this season. There are people connected to your pain, purpose attached to your pressure, and power that can come from what tried to poison you. The same hand that got bit can still be the hand that God uses to bring healing if you don't let bitterness take root. So don't waste your Malta moment trying to figure out why it happened. Use it. Shake off what tried to attach itself to you. Refuse to let other people define your situation and step into what God is doing right here. Even if it looks like nothing like what you expected. Because if God said you're going to Rome, then Malta can't kill you. It can only prepare you. And when your assignment is complete, God will supply everything you need for where you're going next. You don't need a reason, you've got a revelation. And that revelation is this God is with you, God is for you, and He will use everything, even this, for His glory, and you're good. Well, that's all for this week. And we pray as you go that your marriage is stronger and your walk with God is closer after this episode. This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries, and we pray that you have a blessed week.