I Told You So

But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

Acts 27:11

Have you ever said, “I told you so?” We all have, more than a couple of times. I have to be honest; it feels good to be right.

Growing up, my best friend’s mother would tell us stuff like, “Coffee will stunt your growth” or “You’ll get worms if you eat raw cookie dough.” The problem is that she couldn’t really say, “I told you so,” because even if we did these things, her prediction was not going to come true. Although her threats were successful in keeping us from trying!

Now Paul was a prisoner on a ship, and the travel had become dangerous and taxing. Paul warned those in authority that there would be loss to ship and cargo, and the voyage would be disastrous if they sailed anyway. Paul had the inside scoop, though they did not believe him. They sailed anyway, and it happened just as Paul had said. And Paul told them so. "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss (Acts 27:21). The next time he warned them, they listened, and they did what he told them to do.

Guess what? We do the same thing! We know what we should do, but we don’t do it. There are times when God has given us specific instructions to avoid the loss we would face, but we sail on anyway.

We read story after story in the Bible of humans and their poor choices. But God used them anyway. God knew that this would bring the most glory to Himself. God chose the weak things of the word to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). And we are right there with them. We would be just like Thomas who doubted, Peter who denied, and David, who did most all of it.

BUT, they, like us, were learning and growing in their faith. They were searching after God’s Heart. Let’s follow hard after Him.

Lord, thank You for guiding us even when we don’t take Your lead, and thank You for using us anyway.

Julie Smith