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. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.
-Acts 28: 8-9

One of the most interesting places on the planet, in my opinion, is the island of Malta. Malta rests about sixty miles south west of Sicily and around one hundred eighty five miles east of what is now Tunisia. It boasts a very unique blend of regional and cultural influences that have developed over the last five thousand years. During the first century, Malta was chiefly controlled and influenced by the Roman Empire.

In the game of "what ifs", one can speculate what might have come of Malta had Paul not shipwrecked there. Think about it; Paul first healed the father of Publius, the highest ranking Roman official on the island, then he healed all of the rest of the sick people on the entire island. The Bible doesn't specify how many were cured, but I'm sure it is a large number.

The epidemiologist in me wants to speculate as to the likelihood of an epidemic of some kind that had affected a large portion of the island's population. It would make sense. Well, Paul shipwrecked just in time, it seems. How many descendants of those that were healed are walking around today?

Paul was being transported to Rome for an audience with the emperor when this happened. He was on his way to where he would eventually lose his life. He had an appointment with destiny...and he knew it. Yet, God made him take a detour.

I never stop marveling at how God interlaces the events in our lives for his purposes; even if they seem to be in the middle of difficult circumstances or not according to our own plans. We may never know how history will regard our obedience to God and the tasks he sets before us. This is the beauty of Paul's ministry. He looked for opportunities to serve God wherever he was at the moment. Can we do that? Can we narrow our focus, when necessary, to see opportunities that are right in front of us?

The greater question is this: Are we willing to be reconciled to the idea that we may never see the fruit of our labor? Paul didn't.

Publius, awed by miracles he witnessed, received Christ and would become the first bishop of Malta. Malta would then basically become one of the first western Christian nations. It would be hard to calculate the total impact on worldwide Christianity, as a result of the three months Paul spent on Malta.

Just because we feel sidetracked at times, doesn't mean that we are not right where God wants us during that time. Sometimes, God will shipwreck us on an island filled with danger, forcing us to winter over just so we will look at what is right in front of us. The next time we get sidetracked, we ought to look around and see who we can serve...Rome can wait.