Straight Thinking

Acts 23:11–22

Have you ever felt the ground move under your feet? Do you know what it’s like to pitch from side to side in a small boat on strong seas? Have you ever had to run for cover, dodge bullets, or duck out of the way of advancing troops? Remarkably, some people around the world could answer, Yes! to all three questions. Most of us only imagine such scenes.

Still, everyone sooner or later faces the reality of feeling as if life is spinning out of control. That may describe you today. Left unchecked, fear will run its course and paralyze you to the point of helplessness. If you’re not careful, you’ll spend your days wringing your hands and obsessing over your encroaching circumstances. That will cause you to focus on what might happen instead of what God has promised.

Not Paul. He understood something about the sovereignty of God. That clear understanding allowed him to think straight and remain calm in crisis. That kind of straight-thinking calmness is rooted in the promises of God’s Word. Take, for example, the promise in Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride” (Psalm 46:1–3).

Like Paul, we need to learn to think straight, even if the foundations of the earth shift beneath our feet. That takes a heart willing to trust His Word, submit to His plan, then deliberately and consciously relax.

If He was able to stir up four hundred and seventy-two earthly bodyguards to get Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea, safely and securely, He will have no trouble getting you from here to wherever He wants you to be, safely and securely. After all, how many angels are there?

And by the way, when you think straight about all this, you’ll realize you only need one.

Taken from Great Days with the Great Lives by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com

Posted in Bible Characters, Crisis and tagged .

Accuracy, clarity, and practicality all describe the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. Chuck is the chairman of the board at Insight for Living and the chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary. Chuck also serves as the senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, where he is able to do what he loves most—teach the Bible to willing hearts. His focus on practical Bible application has been heard on the Insight for Living radio broadcast since 1979.

ఖచ్చితత్వం, స్పష్టత మరియు ఆచరణాత్మకత అన్నీ చార్లెస్ ఆర్. స్విన్డాల్ యొక్క బైబిల్-బోధనా పరిచర్యను వివరిస్తాయి. చక్ ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ కు బోర్డు ఛైర్మన్ మరియు డల్లాస్ థియోలాజికల్ సెమినరీకి ఛాన్సలర్. చక్ టెక్సాస్‌లోని ఫ్రిస్కోలోని స్టోన్‌బ్రయర్ కమ్యూనిటీ చర్చ్ యొక్క సీనియర్ పాస్టర్‌గా కూడా పనిచేస్తున్నారు, అక్కడ ఆయన చాలా ఇష్టపడేదాన్ని చేయగలుగుతున్నాడు-ఇష్టపడే హృదయాలకు బైబిల్ నేర్పిస్తున్నారు. ఆచరణాత్మక బైబిల్ అనువర్తనంపై ఆయన దృష్టి 1979 నుండి ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ రేడియో ప్రసారంలో వినబడుచున్నది.