I Told You So!

I have to confess to being an "I told you so" kind of person. I really do try not to think that way, or worse yet, say those words, but regrettably they do occasionally slip out. Imagine my surprise, then, to find that the Apostle Paul actually said those very words as well! The story was told in Acts 27. Paul was about to embark on a journey by ship when he said this:

" 'Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.' But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said."

As might be expected, Paul was correct in his assessment of the danger involved, the ship was overcome in a storm, they had to jettison the cargo, and the crew and passengers were without food for many days. Now we come to the "I told you so" part:

"Paul stood up among them and said, 'Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.' "

It would be nice if I could fall back on Paul's words to justify my own, but the similarities end almost immediately. First, Paul is Paul, and I am not. Second, Paul was visited by an angel. And third, Paul was probably only saying the "I told you so" words to validate his new advice.

I'm pretty sure my use of the phrase is much less admirable...