(12/31) As I was preparing for this message I kept thinking of the phrase, "Hindsight is 20/20." And isn’t it so much easier to analyze and evaluate situations and events when you’re looking back on them, than it is when you’re in the middle of it. I mean, it’s so easy to be overwhelmed and preoccupied when you’re in the middle of it, struggling through the challenges of 2020, but today we stand on the threshold of a New Year. And so, and I want to share with you a message I have called HINDSIGHT, and we’re looking back to move forward because we often don’t recognize what God is doing in the events of our lives when we are in the middle of it.

Today, as we look back on 2020, we want to do that with the mind of Christ, having perfect vision and a godly perspective, because "Hindsight is 20/20." And as we look back over the year with all of its turmoil, fear, and division, while there are many things we’d rather forget, there were also many things we have learned, and so we’ve got to go back a different way, like the Magi in Matthew chapter 2. The Bible says, that after Jesus was born, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem asking,

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2).

Now, of course, King Herod was disturbed by this news of a new King, because he was already insecure and fearful of losing the throne. And so, he told the Magi when they found this child, this one who has been born king of the Jews, to let him know so that he could go and worship him too. However, after the Magi found the child, the Bible says that they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and so they returned to their country by another route (Matthew 2:12).

I’m afraid that some of you are anticipating going back to normal this year, but I believe that God is going to take us back another way. And so, we’ve got to change the way that we think, looking at things differently, changing the way that we’ve understood the events of this past year. We’ve got to be prepared to go back another way; because going back to normal isn’t going to take us where we want to go. And so, we’ve got to go back like Joseph and Mary, recognizing that we’ve lost something, that in our hurry to leave we have left something behind.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus was 12 years old, he went with his parents to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover just like they did every year. But this year, when the feast was over, as family and friends left to return home, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents, Joseph and Mary were unaware that he wasn’t with them, thinking that he was walking with their relatives and friends, but when evening came, Luke chapter 2 tells us, "They began looking for him… When they did not find him, they went back…" (Luke 2:44-45). And in the same way, we want to go back, because hindsight is 20/20.

If there’s anything that we’ve learned in 2020, its to be creative; to find new ways to get where we want to go, going against the grain of normal, recognizing that there are other ways of doing business, gathering together as the church and interacting with people. We’ve become so much more flexible and we need to recognize that there’s great value in going back, reviewing the past, and looking for what we’ve left behind. While also recognizing that some of the thoughts and ideas that we’ve come to believe over the past year, may not actually be grounded in truth. And so, we want to go back, recognizing that different people have different opinions and different responses to the exact same situation, environment, or event.

Today, I want to share with you from the life and teaching of the apostle Paul so that we learn from his example, changing the way that we see things and thereby changing the way we think. In other words, we want to think on those things that are consistent with the truth of God’s Word because many of the battles we fight are won or lost in our minds. That’s why Paul said in Philippians chapter 4,

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

And so, we want to go back and look at Paul’s example of making sense of the storms of life through the lens of faith.

As we wrap up this year, I want to share with you the story of a shipwreck that the apostle Paul survived and I think it’s really going to help us to have a godly perspective to the storms that we’re facing in life. Obviously, each one of us has been impacted by this year in different ways, there are some of you who swam safely to shore, others of you may have had to grab a board a piece of wreckage to hang onto as you floated to shore, but the good news is that we all made it. And so, if you would like to follow along in your Bible, I’m going to be reading from the book of Acts, beginning in chapter 27.

In this passage we find the apostle Paul in trouble, he’s being transported as a prisoner to Rome for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to make matters worse, sailing had become very dangerous because they were caught in a storm. Now, in hindsight, Paul discovered that there was a reason for the storm and like many of us trying to make sense of 2020, he had to decide what voice he’s going to listen to about the storm that he’s going through. And so, we pick up the story in verse 14, where Luke who is traveling with Paul tells us,

"Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along" (Acts 27:14-15).

I wonder how many of you felt like you were just driven along this year? I know myself personally, so many times I felt hopeless, just waiting for the next report from the governor, but the reality is, that’s how many of us have always lived our lives, we’re just driven along. But this year some of you’ve been driven along by the winds and waves of the media, the subsequent feelings of fear, the anxious thoughts keeping you up at night, and you’ve been driven along by a spirit of fear, driven off course, playing out all of these scenarios in your mind, so that you can’t even function properly. You’re not really anchored in anything, you’re just watching for what’s going to happen next, and you’re just being driven along by the winds and the waves.

Luke says in verse 16, "As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands" (Acts 27:16-19).

Now they’ve crossed over from thinking rationally, many of them are panicking, fear has taken over and verse 20 says, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved" (Acts 27:20). In other words, this is one of those storms that would not let up, there was no end in sight, and so they gave up hope. They gave up hope that things could be different, that they would make it through this storm, and it was at that point when they had given up all hope that Paul spoke up in verse 22,

"I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me" (Acts 27:21-25).

Isn’t that the essence of faith? Living by faith and not by sight, learning to separate your courage from your conditions, being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. Paul said, "Keep up your courage, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me." "Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island" (Acts 27:26). This is like an oxymoron, because how do you keep up your courage when the ship is going down? All they could see was the ship going down, all they could think about was the ship going down, and that’s all they could focus on. But Paul said you’ve got to fix your focus, because sometimes you can’t fix a situation and all you can do is fix your focus on God.

You see, Paul remembered what God had told him in verse 24, "Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you" (Acts 27:24). And so, Paul wasn’t looking at what they were going through, he was looking back at what God had said, and even though they were in the middle of a storm, he was looking toward the future. He was looking back to move forward, because his focus was fixed on God.

I know that many of us were praying, wanting God to stop the storm, asking him to get rid of this virus, but sometimes God wants to teach us to focus on him even in the middle of a storm. Paul is looking back to move forward, looking back with a different perspective, because he knows there’s a reason he was in the storm. You see, the storm could’ve been avoided, but God doesn’t give him a reason why he was in the storm, he gave him a revelation instead.

God bypasses the reason and gives him a revelation to move forward. This is important because reasons are unstable, reasons are uncertain, but the revelation will certainly come. The prophet Habakkuk said it this way, "The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay" (Habakkuk 2:3). And so, you don’t always have to understand everything when you’ve got a revelation, because you can trust God as you’re going through it, you can praise him for a situation not yet resolved, because he’s the object of your faith. And no matter how hard the wind is blowing, or the waves are crashing down on across the deck, God is with you, God is for you, and he will "never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV).

Everything happened just like Paul said it would, the ship ran aground, they all made it to the island, and verse one of chapter 28 says, "Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta" (Acts 28:1). You could say, this is a place you never intended to go, a season you didn’t plan on experiencing, a year you didn’t see coming, a place you didn’t plan on staying. I wonder if there are any of you, maybe some of you listening online, who are in an unexpected place, a strange place you never expected to be?

That is Malta, it’s the place you never intended to go, and this is where we find Paul. Here they were lost at sea, about to give up hope, when God guided them up out of the clutches of this storm onto a small island called Malta. And the Bible says that once Paul and the other survivors made it safely to shore, "The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand" (Acts 28:2-3).

I wonder how many of you remember Murphy’s Law? There was an old saying, "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." And so, here’s Paul, he’s a prisoner, caught in the storm, survived a shipwreck, and now he’s trying to be helpful gathering some wood for a fire; when the heat drives out this snake. And it doesn’t just strike him, it’s not a quick little bite, but this snake fastens itself on his hand like a Pitbull.

"When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live" (Acts 28:4).

Their assumption is that this guy who just came crawling out of the sea, having survived a shipwreck, must’ve done something really bad, because now he’s got a poisonous snake hanging from his hand.

I wonder if there are any of you who have been thinking like that, that there has to be a reason all these bad things are happening? Any of you wondering if there really was a God that loved you, why are so many people sick, and maybe you wouldn’t be stuck at home trying to work and homeschool your kids? Well, I want you to watch what Paul does, look at verse five, "Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects" (Acts 28:5). Paul did what we’ve got to learn to do when we’ve been through a storm, a shipwreck, and it just keeps coming and coming. When people are talking about you, talking like it’s the end, you’ve got to shake it off before the venom gets into your spirit.

I want to pause for a moment to reflect on the snakebite, remembering the words of Jesus in John chapter 3, verse 14,

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

You see, snakebites are nothing new, and sometimes the snakebites aren’t necessarily what other people are saying about us, but more about what we are saying about God, about his ministers, about his church and other people. Jesus was reminding Nicodemus of a time when the people of God were traveling in the wilderness and they became impatient, speaking against God and against Moses. Venomous snakes rose up among them, broods of vipers, and they bit the people and many Israelites died. The Israelites repented of their sin and Moses prayed for the people. The Lord told Moses,

"The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived" (Numbers 21:8-9).

That’s the Old Testament story Jesus was reminding Nicodemus of, but he was pointing to a greater truth, the fact that Jesus would take the snakebite for us. In fact, we see this as far back as Genesis chapter 3, when God told Satan, that snake, that serpent of old: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15). And so, God prophesies that Jesus would be snake bit, he would become sin for us, going to the cross and dying in our place so that everyone who looked to him lifted up on the cross, believing in him would be forgiven and have eternal life.

The reality is, since that time, we’ve all been bit. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death," and so our past, what our sin leads us to, is to be eternally separated from God, but God in his goodness didn't leave us that way. He stepped in and intervened, Jesus Christ went to the cross, he was lifted up on the cross for our sins, he died for sins that we've committed. But he didn't stay on that cross, he was buried, but he didn’t stay in the grave, because God raised him from the grave.

Today God wants to write a new story, not of your defeat, but of God's victory in your life. Paul shook it off and by faith we declare, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). He shook it off because he knew he would get through it, he had to survive, because God already told him he was going to Rome. And so, he knew he wasn’t going to die on this island, he was more than a conqueror, and he just shook it off. However, the Bible says, "The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god" (Acts 28:6).

There are some of you, who in looking back over this year, need to rewrite your story, maybe editing your script, because there are a lot of harmful thoughts and poisonous words that have the potential to keep you trapped in the events of 2020. And I don’t know who this is for, but you don’t need a reason for 2020, what you need is revelation, and here’s what Jesus said,

"These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well" (Mark 16:17-18).

And so, like Paul, you need to shake it off, you need to fix your focus, so that you are prepared to move forward.

Paul perseveres, he survives the snakebite, and "the chief official of the island" heard about this guy who survived a snakebite. The Bible says,

"He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him" (Acts 28:7-8).

I have to imagine that about this time Paul is beginning to get a sneaky suspicion that there was a reason he went through the storm, was shipwrecked, run aground in Malta, and bit by a snake. And so, with the same hand that was throwing wood on the fire, the same hand that had a snake hanging from it just days before, he places his hands on this man and heals him. "When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured" (Acts 28:9). All of a sudden Publius house turned into a church building and the whole island was healed.

God was working and I wonder what you’re wishing you had never gone through in 2020? Some of you may be wondering why it happened, but what really matters is your response, because Malta is whatever you make of it. It doesn’t matter the reason, you’re on Malta now, and you had to go through the storm, you had to run aground on some island, because we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). And so, it had to happen because Malta needed Paul, there was a purpose for him being there, he didn’t need a reason, because he got a revelation, that God is good and God is working in all things. Not that God did it, not that God caused the storm, but that he is working in all things and he will use it for good.

Through the storms in his life Paul learned to look at things a different way, it was a different way of thinking, and that changed the meaning of the circumstances of his life. This is helpful for all of us because we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we see it and understand it. God told Paul he was going to Rome and on the way he experienced a storm, a shipwreck, and a snakebite. He was excited to go to Rome to preach the gospel, but he didn’t get to go there as a preacher, instead he went to Rome as a prisoner. He was locked up and chained to Romans guards, awaiting a trial and possible execution, and yet in spite of all these things Paul looked at them with the mind of Christ and saw that God was working in all things.

Today as you and I stand on the threshold of a new year, we need to recognize that we can’t control what happens to us anymore than Paul could, but we can control how we respond to our circumstances. As we look back over 2020, we’ve got to return a different way, thinking a different way, because we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That’s why Paul said,

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

In other words, we want to think on those things that are good and are consistent with the truth of God’s Word.

And so, we can begin number one, by "Thanking God" for what didn’t happen. Being thankful, even though I didn’t get a bonus, at least I didn’t lose my job. Being thankful that even though the ship went down, at least nobody went down with it. And so, we can be thankful for what didn’t happen.

Number two, we can begin practicing "Wholesome Thinking" learning to filter our view of the world because that determines how we see things, how we feel, and often what we do. And so, we want to think on those things that are excellent or praiseworthy, choosing our attitude before things get tough, so that we don’t mistakenly interpret what otherwise might turn out for good as being bad. In second Peter, the apostle says it this way,

"I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory" (2 Peter 3:1-2, NLT).

Wholesome thinking reminds you, "God is with me, God is for me, and my God is good all the time." And so, you can’t control what happens to you, but you can stop believing the lies from the past.

And then number three, we’re going to want to look for "God’s Goodness" because as we enter this new year if we look for the negative in everything, we will find it. If you want to be critical, you can pick apart any person, group, or organization, but if on the other hand, you choose to look for God’s goodness, looking for the good in people, and looking for where God is working, you will see him working. You will see the good in people, your attitude will change, your perspective will change, and your relationships will change because you will find what you are looking for.

In hindsight, we determine the meaning of what has happened to us in 2020, but I want to encourage you to let Jesus help you determine the meaning, because then you will recognize that even on a bad day God is still good. He is still involved, he still cares, and he will never leave you nor forsake you. Even in the storms of life, even when we are waiting, we can still praise him, because no matter what our circumstances are like, our God is always good.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott