February 01, 2008 Acts 27:20

02/01/2008

Acts 27:20 - 26 (HCSB)

²⁰For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging; finally all hope that we would be saved was disappearing. ²¹Since many were going without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. ²²Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. ²³For this night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me, ²⁴saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. And, look! God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵Therefore, take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. ²⁶However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

Have you ever been out hiking or driving and you get confused on directions? As a Boy Scout, I was trained to look at the position of the sun relative to the time of day to get a bearing, but if the sky is overcast, you can’t see where the sun is and therefore can’t make any determination of direction. It can be disconcerting if not frightening. Imagine if you are in a forest and you know if you go one direction you will find help quickly but if you go in the wrong direction, it is certain death. You can’t tell which direction is which. What do you do?

Paul and his shipmates found themselves in this same situation after many days at sea.

Paul had still been held prisoner by Festus, Governor at Caesarea. Because Festus wanted to favor the Jews, he continued to hold Paul, even though he could ascertain no legitimate charges against him. Wanting to be rid of Paul, Festus offered to send Paul back to Jerusalem to answer the charges, but Paul, as a Roman citizen appealed to the emperor. Festus had no choice but to send Paul to Rome. The quickest way to Rome was by ship.

Along the journey, the boat was moored at a small harbor on Crete, but winter was setting in and the harbor was not suitable for wintering. Paul warned the crew not to attempt to sail on, but they ignored him and set out for a larger harbor just a short distance away. A storm arose and the ship was swept out to sea and after at least two weeks (probably three), they were adrift, the boat was in bad shape, they had jettisoned most of the cargo, and were starving.

Paul, a prisoner, the least passenger of standing on the ship, stands up in their midst and delivers the message in the passage above. Essentially what Paul says is, “I will be delivered to speak before the emperor. God has destined it and so nothing will happen to thwart that.”

What kind of confidence does that give us to know that God is in total control? Everyone on the ship was starving and desperate, yet Paul speaks to them confidently and begins eating the last of the bread that they had because there was no need to ration it any longer.

When we release control of our lives to God, and trust in His plan, we no longer need to be concerned about what may come. This doesn’t mean that we can sit back and do nothing -- No doubt; Paul was helping the crew to draw ropes under the ship’s hull to keep it from breaking up in the violent waters. What it means is we are free from worry.

Although we may not have an angel announce the details of God’s plan for us, we can be assured that He does have a plan and that plan will come about when we present ourselves as willing vessels and continue to trust Him in all things.

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