Sunday afternoons and evenings are when I get alone and recharge. Sometimes, I will put on pajamas right after church! My cell phone and fitness tracker are left in the office while I nap and then read or watch a movie.
Yesterday, I watched “The Wackiest Ship in the Navy.” Captured by the Japanese, they freed themselves by untying the boom and ducking as it swung around, knocking most of the Japanese soldiers overboard.
Sailing is dangerous! It was not unusual to hear, “Man overboard!” Was that why Paul decided to walk to Assos?
Acts 20:13, “We went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. For he had arranged this, intending to go on foot.” Modern English Version
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“In sailing southward from Troas to Assos, one has to round Cape Lectum, and keeping due east to run along the northern shore of the Gulf of Adramyttium, on which it lies. This is a sail of nearly forty miles; whereas by land, cutting right across, in a southeasterly direction, from sea to sea, by that excellent Roman road which then existed, the distance was scarcely more than half. The one way Paul wished his companions to take, while he himself, longing perhaps to enjoy a period of solitude, took the other, joining the ship, by appointment, at Assos.”
Critical and Explanatory Commentary, Vol. I
Did Paul walk to visit friends he had met before? This was his third journey and the second time he was in Troas, see Acts 16:8-12. I found the answer later in the chapter.
Acts 20:22, 23, “Now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what shall befall me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” Modern English Version
The last time I visited Pinecrest, (now Whitestone Academy), in New York, I was a teenager. The first morning there, I took my Bible on a familiar trail to get alone with God.
I left the trail and sat on a carpet of pine needles to read. I was immediately surrounded by gnats. Then I remembered the pine snakes and Copperheads! I got back on the trail and walked to our dorm room.
By the time I returned, my sisters had left the room for breakfast and I finished my devotions there. But I will always cherish the memory of my walk through the woods, alone with God.
Are you facing something difficult or painful? Prepare yourself by taking a long walk – alone with God.
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