Dave Dishman

One summer in Hungary our family traveled across the country by train. The day was hot, our assigned car was packed, and we sweltered with only an open window for ventilation. Overwhelmed, our three year old daughter looked around and started to cry. As my wife comforted her and I took care of our boys, I thought, this is going to be a miserable train ride.

Then the unexpected. A lady sitting across from us pulled a few cherries from her luggage. Hungary produces fabulous cherries, and these were cold and fresh. She shared one with our daughter whose eyes lit up. The rest of that long afternoon our daughter shared a seat with a Hungarian angel and happily munched on cherries.

Sometimes good things come to us we neither expect or deserve—like the kindness of a stranger.

The good people of Malta hosted the shipwrecked passengers and crew from Paul’s ill-fated voyage across the Mediterranean. The chief man of the island (Publius) poured on the hospitality. Then Paul returned the favor: It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

Along with healing the sick, Paul preached during his three month stay. The gospel spread rapidly and many people followed Jesus. According to tradition, the shipwreck and subsequent work of Paul and his companions launched the faith in Malta which continues to this day.

For no reason of their own God blessed the people of Malta. Sometimes God blesses out of the blue (or in this case, out of the storm). I don’t know what’s coming, nor can I plan ahead for its arrival. Like a cold cherry on a hot day, I can simply enjoy God’s favors when they arrive and remain grateful for His continued goodness in my life.

Acts 28:1-10

Photo by Anna Bratiychuk

Paul and his companions sailed for Rome, but a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck the ship. Driven along for fourteen days, the ship eventually came within site of an island. The sailers aimed for a beach, but ran aground on a reef. The order came to jump overboard and make for land, either by swimming for those who could, or by clinging to broken pieces of the boat for those who could not.

Imagine the terror. Surrounded by winds raging and waves pounding, all you have is a soggy plank to keep you afloat. But to stay behind meant certain death as the ship was pounded apart. If you want to live, grab hold of a chunk of wood and kick toward shore. A drowning man ain’t picky.

An angel told Paul there would be no loss of life among the 276 passengers on the ship. But the angel did not specify how each person would be saved. Desperation fueled limbs. When reaching shore they collapsed in relief and gratitude. As the angel predicted, no one drowned.

Doesn’t God come alongside us in the same way? I pray for delivery from some problem, but the Lord doesn’t answer as I’m driven along by the storm day after day. Then, when relief does come, it never looks at shiny and safe as I dreamed. It appears more like a log in the water than a coast guard helicopter. Yet it gets the job done. Thank you Lord for the means of rescue you extend, soggy planks and all.

Acts 27

Photo by The New York Public Library

It never pays to humiliate someone, especially if you can’t back up your smack. King David sent a group of his advisors to visit Hanun, the new king of Ammon. The king’s advisors took David’s show of kindness as a ruse to spy out their land and conquer it. Hanun responded by humiliating David’s messengers. He took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away.

With beards covering only half their faces (beards were a big deal back in the day), and their buttocks showing, these men limped back in shame. After consoling his ambassadors, David set out to punish the king of Ammon. He did so thoroughly, with thousands dying and the nation coming under the control of Israel.

Hanun blundered in his statecraft. No war needed to start and no one needed to die. A gesture of kindness was reciprocated with callous reproach. I wonder why Hanun and his advisors were so untrusting? Hanun’s father treated well with David. Why the change? Was it pride, or fear, or simply men with chariots itching for a fight? Regardless, their foolish advice led to disaster.

I’m reminded to treat people with good intentions until proved otherwise. In this case, David extended a hand in friendship only to have it bitten off in return. To slap away a kindness, or ignore a sincere attempt at friendship, always results in reaping bitter fruit for yourself and those around you.

2 Samuel 10

Photo by Joseph Corl

When hiking in the woods you don’t want to get between a mama bear and her cubs. A friend of mine was literally chased up a tree when she found herself in this situation. Among humans, a mother’s love forms one of the most powerful bonds on the planet. Mother’s Day is a big deal because mothers are big deals.

A mom extends love and devotion towards her children despite the less than stellar actions of the kids. In this, she mirrors the Lord. Psalm 106 starts with Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

The psalmist then lists several ways the people of Israel tested the Lord’s love. They craved meat in the wilderness, they jealously opposed Moses, they bowed to an image of a calf and refused to enter the promised land. Later they worshipped the Baals and sacrificed their living children to demonic gods. God delivered discipline, but he never left.

When the people returned to the Lord, he blessed them once again: Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Despite our background of sins against God and man, the Lord showers those who cry to him in humility with a profusion of faithful love. We don’t deserve it, but God grants it. It’s called grace—unmerited favor—and as he did for the children of Israel, the Lord also extends such love to each and every one of us.

Psalm 106

Photo by Cristina Glebova