We spent last weekend in Astoria where we had the opportunity to visit the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale. The Peter Iredale was a ship, 278 feet in length made steel plates on iron frames. The ship was named after its owner Peter Iredale, who owned several ships. The Peter Iredale had the homeport of Liverpool England. The Peter Iredale had sailed to Salina Cruz, Mexico and had been at sea 28 days with the next destination of the Columbia River, where it was suppose to pick up a load of wheat. On October 25, 1906, the ship’s captain H. Lawrence had sighted the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse around 2 a. m. and made the decision to wait for a pilot boat to lead them through the treacherous water of the mouth of the Columbia River. While waiting for the pilot boat, a heavy southwest wind came up, catching the ship and pushing it up on to Clatsop Beach. Luckily, no lives were lost. The locals were able to rescue everyone.Acts 27:27-43 tells us of another shipwreck where all hands were saved. Paul had been put on trial because a riot had ensued when some Jews from the Asia Province spotted Paul in the temple. These Jews had heard Paul’s message of Christ’s salvation and were angry with his lectures. Paul was arrested since he seemed to be the cause of the riot. A couple of trials took place and since Paul was a Roman citizen, he had the option to appeal to Caesar himself (Acts 25:11) and he took this option. Paul was put in the custody of Centurion Julius of the Imperial Regiment who booked passage for them on a ship setting sail for Rome.
The ship caught a south wind and as they passed along the shore of the island of Crete, a northeaster blew off of the island with a hurricane force. The storm raged for fourteen days, blowing them across the Adriatic Sea. The sailors spotted the island of Malta with a smooth sandy beach and thought they would run the ship onto the soft sand. Before the ship reached the beach, it struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. All of the crew and passengers made it safely to shore. To add more pain to the dire situation, Paul was bitten by a poison snake but God spared his life.
While on the surface Paul’s situations seemed to be working against him, God used these situations to witness to the islanders. God used Paul to heal the father of Publius’, who was the chief official of the island. Once the news of what happened spread, the rest of the island’s who were ill came to Paul and were cured.
Our lives can be filled with shipwrecks of broken relationships, lost jobs, illness, death of loved ones and the list goes on. Just as with Paul’s situations, God can use the tragedies of life to speak to the people around us.
Earlier in our marriage, we lost a baby. One of my co-workers was amazed that my wife and I were able to work through our grief and it gave me an opportunity to talk with her about our assurance that our baby was with Christ in heaven. Years later my co-worker phoned and told me that she’d accepted Christ as her savior and knew I’d be happy for her. A few years later I lost my brother in helicopter accident. My son and I were able to talk about my brother’s faith and in turn my son put his faith in the Lord.
While no one wants to go through these trials and suffering and the grief we feel cannot be minimized, my hope is that we can find solace in knowing that God can use all things to draw others to him.
