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Daily Choices

In Acts 28, Paul had just escaped death. He’d narrowly avoided being thrown overboard and now he had endured a shipwreck. He lands on the island of Malta. He’s cold, wet, and exhausted, and he’s still being rained upon. You would think that he’d run to the fire to start drying out and warming up, but the Bible tells us he did something else instead. Paul starts picking up sticks to feed the fire. He makes a distinct choice. 

We make choices every day, whether it be in regard to our actions, thoughts, responses, or decisions. Daily, we hold the power of choice in our hands. Paul made a choice to pick up sticks to fuel the fire. Fire is representative of God’s presence. 

Why is this so significant? Why would God put this small detail in this larger-than-life story? He wanted to give us another striking example of grace. Grace was not only the favor that protected Paul along his journey, but grace is the power to choose to fuel the fire even when still in the midst of the storm. In our own lives, oftentimes when we go through a storm of challenges, the last thing we want to do is attend to the small activities that nourish the presence of God—the fire of God, if you will—in our lives. 

While it’s important to get into the fire of God’s presence, it’s quite another thing to feed it so that its warmth increases in every area of our lives. We have to, by the grace of God, pick up sticks to fuel the fire. That means we need to do things to continually feed God’s presence in our lives. 

It’s the little things—sticking to the habits of seeking God. It’s staying faithful in the things that help us grow: prayer, reading the Bible, going to church, worship, giving. It’s a matter of daily choosing peace, joy, hope, and love.