20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. 22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee (Acts 27:20-24).
In this passage Paul is being transported by ship as a prisoner to Rome to appear before Caesar. The ship however was caught in a massive storm, lasting days, and was facing certain destruction. Paul is trying to comfort the crew and passengers that they will not be killed. Paul knew that he had to go the Rome and as part of God’s mercy, God would spare all those on the ship. There is nothing outside the power of God and God’s plans according to His will are always carried out. We, of course, don’t have the insight that Paul had (an angel appeared to him and told him the plan) but we do know that God is ultimately sovereign. Our temptation might be to say, “Well, I wish I knew the exact future like Paul did”. But it is actually very merciful that God doesn’t tell us what the future holds in terms of our day-to-day lives. The fact is, we, in many cases couldn’t bear the reality of the knowledge of all the details of our earthly future. God in His mercy gives the strength we need to face life’s challenges as they occur. This story in Acts, however, should be comforting to us in that God is in control. God’s grace is always eternal, and though circumstances in life are often painful and full of discord and sorrow, we have a Savior who is acquainted with our circumstances and is mighty to save.
In this passage Paul is being transported by ship as a prisoner to Rome to appear before Caesar. The ship however was caught in a massive storm, lasting days, and was facing certain destruction. Paul is trying to comfort the crew and passengers that they will not be killed. Paul knew that he had to go the Rome and as part of God’s mercy, God would spare all those on the ship. There is nothing outside the power of God and God’s plans according to His will are always carried out. We, of course, don’t have the insight that Paul had (an angel appeared to him and told him the plan) but we do know that God is ultimately sovereign. Our temptation might be to say, “Well, I wish I knew the exact future like Paul did”. But it is actually very merciful that God doesn’t tell us what the future holds in terms of our day-to-day lives. The fact is, we, in many cases couldn’t bear the reality of the knowledge of all the details of our earthly future. God in His mercy gives the strength we need to face life’s challenges as they occur. This story in Acts, however, should be comforting to us in that God is in control. God’s grace is always eternal, and though circumstances in life are often painful and full of discord and sorrow, we have a Savior who is acquainted with our circumstances and is mighty to save.
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