Murderer or a God

Appearances are a poor judgment of Truth. Much of what we see can readily be misunderstood through our perception of reality that is illusionary or even delusionary. If you have ever witnessed the misdirection of a magician, you know how wrong we can be.
Paul is in custody having appealed his case to Caesar and is on a ship sailing toward Rome but the ship is caught in a storm and eventually wrecked upon the coast of Malta.

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.¹

If nothing else, Paul’s journeys have an element of adventure. Storm-tossed, shipwrecked, cold, doing what was at hand to survive and then a viper bites you. Suddenly the local populace knows you are a murderer being brought to account by Justice (one of the fates) with no recourse but to suffer the fate due your crime. But wait! When you don’t suffer the consequences, now you are acclaimed as a god.
You are neither a murderer or a god but these people have no frame of reference for the miraculous such as the deliverance of Paul by the LORD. Paul does not make himself out to be someone special but simply continues being Paul. ‘As it happens’ the land of that neighborhood belongs to the chief man of the island and his father is very sick but God uses Paul to heal the father which opens up ministry to the rest of the diseased in that area. The locals then provision Paul’s group through the winter and three months later Paul moves on to Rome.
Are we prone to make the big things God does all about us and His use of us or do we let all the honor and glory go to the LORD? Appearances can be deceiving and living by appearance can create quite the stumbling block in our life.