I. Introduction
In the 60's the Mamas and Papas may have most accurately captured the sentiment of the concept of getting a "Case of the Mondays".
Monday, Monday, can't trust that day
Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh, Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh, Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me?
Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes
But whenever Monday comes
You can find me crying all of the time
Ever had ones of those days? It is just a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Or maybe worse you have experienced a week of Mondays! Or some of you can stand up and testify to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. So what do we do when our day is the worst day?
Well last week we talked about Job and what we could learn from his bad days. Today we go to the New Testament and learn from Paul.
You know Paul experienced some pretty bad days in his life. You are probably even familiar with his laundry list of Monday experiences . . . 2 Corinthians 11! Listen to the list of his bad days.
"I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches."
Oh and wait, even though he mentions it briefly he skipped the worst day.
II. Text
Acts 27:13-15, 18-20, 27-29, 39-44; 28:1-6
When a gentle southerly breeze came up, they weighed anchor, thinking it would be smooth sailing. But they were no sooner out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor’easter, struck. They lost all control of the ship. It was a cork in the storm.
Next day, out on the high seas again and badly damaged now by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.
On the fourteenth night, adrift somewhere on the Adriatic Sea, at about midnight the sailors sensed that we were approaching land. Sounding, they measured a depth of 120 feet, and shortly after that ninety feet. Afraid that we were about to run aground, they threw out four anchors and prayed for daylight.
At daybreak, no one recognized the land—but then they did notice a bay with a nice beach. They decided to try to run the ship up on the beach. They cut the anchors, loosed the tiller, raised the sail, and ran before the wind toward the beach. But we didn’t make it. Still far from shore, we hit a reef and the ship began to break up. The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none could escape by swimming, but the centurion, determined to save Paul, stopped them. He gave orders for anyone who could swim to dive in and go for it, and for the rest to grab a plank. Everyone made it to shore safely.
Once everyone was accounted for and we realized we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it. Paul pitched in and helped. He had gathered up a bundle of sticks, but when he put it on the fire, a venomous snake, driven out by the heat, struck his hand and held on. Seeing the snake hanging from Paul’s hand like that, the natives jumped to the conclusion that he was a murderer getting his just deserts. Paul shook the snake off into the fire, none the worse for wear. They kept expecting him to drop dead, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to, they jumped to the conclusion that he was a god!
That's right on the worst Monday of his life, and I am not revealing one of my worst fears here at all, Paul gets bit by a snake (viper)! It goes from bad to the worsest ever! Shipwrecked and now snake bit!
Just trying to lend a helping hand and out of nowhere he is snake bit (this is free . . . some of your toughest days will occur when you are simply trying to help someone else)!
Bit doesn't have to mean poisoned!
Paul's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day actually doesn't even make the list of what he has endured because when the snake bit he shook it off! Make no mistake he got bit. The text even says the snake hung on! But Paul turns what could have been the worst day into a day that doesn't even make the "Worst Day List" because he shook it off. He shook off the snake and suffered no symptoms or effects of the bite!
I want to say something that may be difficult for you to hear! Some of you are poisoned not because you were bit (we all get bit) but rather because you won't shake it off. The initial bite was painful but it wasn't life threatening until you let it hang on.
It would have been a surface wound but now it is completely debilitating simply because you failed to shake it off. You have chosen to wallow in it and the poison slowly seeps in!
Yeah they left shake it off.
Yeah they lied shake it off.
Yes, they criticized and it poisons your perspective and kills hope.
Yeah they cheated, they hurt, they bad mouthed, they cursed, they didn't play fair, they used you, and they intentionally tried to destroy you! Shake it off . . . shake it off! (FADE IN SHAKE IT OFF - CHORUS - Taylor Swift)
Just because you have been bit doesn't mean you must also be poisoned. Shake it off.
Physically shake it off. Jesus instructs His disciples that there would be time when they would need to shake the dust off their feet. He is addressing residue. Ashes. Jesus knew that as we walk through life there would be stuff that tries to hang on and attach and if we don't shake that stuff off and get rid of it, then it would build up and impact our journey!
There are some things that fall off, but there are some things that must be shaken off.
There are some experiences and some people that strike and you simply take the hit and keep walking. No big deal.
There are other experiences and people that try to (or we allow to) stay attached. They try to hang on. They try to suck life and inject poison. They cause you to die from the inside out. You must take the time to identify the things that have attached themselves to you . . . an attitude, a relationship, a hurt, a grudge, a prejudice, fear, an addiction and forcefully . . . and here is the part we want God to do but He is waiting on us to do . . . intentionally take the steps necessary to shake off what, if left hanging around, will destroy. And one of those steps is to, like Paul, be so full of the Holy Spirit that the attacks and bites of the enemy can be shaken off!
III. Close
What is hanging on to you that you need to shake off? Jesus said He came with the power to set the captive . . . the snake bit if you will . . . free! That means He did more than just show up to save you! He came to help you shake off what would poison you! He is the Balm of Gilead! He is the one that can pull the poison out of your life. The first step of shaking it off is admitting the bite in the first place. Others know you are bit . . . do you?
