As a lifelong resident of North Carolina, I’m interested in historical tidbits of information about my state. Somewhere along the way, I picked up an old legend about Nags Head, a town located on the Outer Banks of eastern North Carolina. This legend has never been officially verified, but it sure makes for a good story.

The legend has it that in the 1700s Nags Head was home to a group of ruthless land pirates known as “wreckers” (sometimes also called “bankers”). These men would hang lanterns around the necks of “nags” (horses or mules) and slowly walk the animals up and down the beach at night. Out in the darkness of the Atlantic ocean, a ship would mistake the bobbing light for the light of another ship. Figuring the other ship had found safe passage around the dangerous shoals just off the island, the ship in the darkness would turn inland and run aground on Diamond Shoals.

In the mornings, the “wreckers” would walk along the shoreline to gather up whatever timber or other goods the tide had brought in from the wrecked ships. The found loot was then sold for profit. Even now visitors to Nags Head are shown old houses that were supposedly built and furnished with material taken from these shipwrecks, and the assumption is that Nags Head got its name from the practice of the land pirates hanging the lanterns around the necks of the nags. Estimates say that over 2,000 ships perished off this coast during that time period, with many of the shipwrecks being ships that were fooled by the “wreckers.”

Nags Head is now a tourist town of around 2,700. If it ever was a haven for land pirates, those days are long gone. This doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t still some “wreckers” out there that need to be avoided. A “wrecker” is anyone or anything that causes another to sail into dangerous waters. For example, a seductive man or woman can wreck a marriage, a bottle of booze can wreck a life, a dirty business deal can wreck a career, and a church leader who doesn’t follow the Lord can wreck a church.

The key to avoiding a “shipwreck” is to accurately recognize a wrecker for who or what it is. Don’t fall for just any old light on a dark night. Don’t be misled by a false reality. Don’t be so quick to trade the known for the unknown.

Most of us have heard the saying, “God won’t put more on you than you can handle.” Even though this saying’s principle is a sound one, there is no Bible verse that specifically supports it. The verse in question actually has to do with temptation. It is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (N.K.J.V.)

Please note the teaching of this verse. God will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to withstand. To the contrary, whenever you get close to your breaking point, He will provide you with an escape hatch out of that temptation. His job is to provide the way of escape, and your job is to use it.

I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, but could it be that you are considering sailing off toward some strange light? Are you just about to change your course in life simply because you think this light will lead you into safe waters? Friend, beware of the wrecker! If God really wanted you to chart that course, the way would be much clearer and more sure. The night wouldn’t be so dark, and the light wouldn’t be so questionable. Therefore, rather than turning yourself toward that light, you need to start looking around for God’s way of escape from that temptation. Based upon 1 Corinthians 10:13, that way will be there, and if you use it, you will be spared a disastrous shipwreck.