English Standard Version (ESV)
27 And when it was
decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other
prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And
embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along
the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from
Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius
treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4 And
putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the
winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open
sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There
the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.
7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with
difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we
sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it
with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city
of Lasea.
9 Since much time had passed, and the
voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast[a] was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying,
“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.” 11 But the
centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to
what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to
spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the
chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both
southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
Now when the south wind
blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed
anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon
a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And
when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and
were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island
called Cauda,[b] we managed with difficulty to secure the
ship's boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to
undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis,
they lowered the gear,[c] and thus they were driven along. 18 Since
we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And
on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When
neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us,
all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
21 Since they had been without food for a
long time, 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. 22 Yet
now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but
only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me
an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 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.’ 25 So take heart,
men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But
we must run aground on some island.”
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27%3A1+-26&version=ESV)
Psalm 37:4. English Standard Version (ESV), tells us,
4 Delight
yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the
desires of your heart.
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+37%3A4&version=ESV) If you have been reading along with us in
Acts, you may recall that Paul had a desire to go to Rome. He did not stop at some cities that he had been
too because he had a need to get to Rome.
Yet, he still has not arrived.
Now we find him on a ship that is being tossed to and fro in the waters
and all the people are about to perish.
Then Paul gets up and speaks. He
tells them that they will not perish because an angel told him so. This is a bit different than the story on
Jonah who was trying to avoid going to Nineveh, a place that God had called
him.
The lesson I heard today is
that if God has a plan for you and me, and we can either go with it or try to
avoid it but ultimately God’s plan is what will happen. So, in the case of Paul, he was ready for the
adventure God had set forth for him. He
was so in tune with God and His will that he had the same desires that God had
for him. Whereas Jonah had his own
agenda to attend to and it did not go as well for him. Most of the time I feel more like Jonah than
I do Paul, which is sad to say and hard to admit. I tend to look at my agenda and want God to
go along with it rather than looking at God’s agenda and following His
calling. I get down and depressed when
my agenda does not work out, forgetting that God has the entire situation under
control, it is in His hands. I have to
think that even Paul was somewhat scared of the situation, wondering if it was
his desire to go to Rome or if God really wanted him to go. For even Paul stated that the angel told him
to “fear not”. This is a common greeting
of angels, yet; in this case I believe the angel was referring more to the
storm than to his appearance to Paul.
I believe these words are for
us even today. I can get into situations
that I do not understand. I can think
that I am following God’s will when it is really my own desires. I can sit and wonder for hours upon hours as
to why I am in a certain predicament.
Yet, if I put my trust in Him, I have no need to be afraid, discouraged,
or distraught. Let this be a lesson to
us today, let our hearts desire His will for our lives, to be witnesses of His
grace and forgiveness and give Him the glory.
Let us live our lives in such as way that others may know that we seek
Him with all our hearts.
May God bless you as you
continue your journey with Him, whether you are shipwrecked or smooth sailing,
know that He is the Captain of your ship and it is sailing on course for His
will.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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