Trust God in the Storm

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Are you facing a storm?

Acts 27 picks up with Apostle Paul boarding a ship sailing to Rome as a prisoner to stand trial before Caesar. This is the grand purpose for which God has called him. Despite Paul's earlier warning about the dangers of continuing the voyage late in the season, the centurion and the ship's crew decide to press on from Fair Havens in Crete. Soon after setting sail, they are caught in a violent storm known as a northeaster, which drives the ship uncontrollably across the sea.

The crew takes desperate measures to save the vessel—undergirding it with ropes, throwing cargo and tackle overboard—but the relentless storm shows no signs of stopping. Days pass without the sun or stars appearing, plunging everyone into darkness and despair as they lose all hope of being saved. In this bleak and dire situation, Paul stands up to address the crew and passengers.

²¹ “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. ²² Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. ²³ For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me ²⁴ and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. ²⁶ But we have to run aground on some island.”

Conrad Gempf notes, “Paul’s speech appears at first to have a touch of ‘I told you so’ about it, but in fact his previous advice is highlighted in order that the ship’s crew might have more cause to believe this latest ‘forecast.’”^[1] He’s showing that that “no amount of experience or shrewd calculation could have given him this assurance.”^[2] He was given a direct revelation from God.