Acts 27:27-32 :

But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land. They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight. As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.

By this time the men on the ship were hungry, tired and terrified. I think most all of us get to this point at some time during our lives and these times can be important times of testing. Paul caught the sailors trying to save themselves and told them that, by attempting to save themselves, they would be losing their lives.

This is an amazing real-life example of how faith works. God wants us to believe Him so much that he often puts us in this kind of situation. Notice that at this point, simply saying they believed was not enough. They had to demonstrate their faith by which boat they chose to sit in.

Fortunately, these men were willing to pay attention to Paul and chose to do what they believed God wanted even though it may not have not what they thought was best for themselves.

God has not provided mankind a way to save themselves either. He has only provided a way for us to be saved by Him and Him only. This is the remarkable thing about Christianity. It is not a way to reach God or become a god. It is a story about God and His choosing to reach mankind all by Himself. We can accept His love if we choose to, but to do so, we will have to believe what He says and give up our attempts to save ourselves.