Journey Through The Bible
     Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 31-35
     New Testament Reading: Acts 27

Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me 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.’ So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me (Acts 27: 22-25).

For two weeks, the severe storm kept raging and severely battered the storm-tossed ship. Nearly 500 miles off course, they had given up hope of being saved. Luke uses “we” in verse 20, indicating that he himself shared the pessimism expressed by the other passengers.

Paul began the journey on the ship as a prisoner but ended as the captain. Paul took over the situation when nobody else knew what to do. A crisis does not make a person; a crisis shows what a person is made of, and it brings true leadership to the front.

In this desperate situation, Paul stepped forward to speak. His first words were for them to take courage. They needed this, as the lack of food physically weakened them. Exhausted from the toil of keeping the ship afloat, and the continuing storm had dampened their morale. They needed encouragement to act effectively when the time came for action.

Paul shared God’s promises with them. The Almighty God who made the wind and waves sent a messenger to Paul and told him that the ship and cargo would be lost, but that all the passengers would be spared.

Today, we are not likely to have visions, but we have the promises of God in His Word to encourage us and to share with others during difficult times. Paul’s calm assurance that things would happen just as he told them certainly must have been reassuring to everyone on the ship.

God’s reliable Word is a shelter in a time of storms, even when our instinct may be to jump ship when days get rough. We are called to rely on the Word of God instead of our emotions. Present circumstances are lousy predictors of our future, but God’s Word is sure and provides hope that will not disappear.

Storms have a way of revealing character. Some sailors selfishly tried to escape, others could only hope for the best, but Paul trusted God and obeyed His will. Paul became the most valuable man on that ship. He did not allow his current circumstances to get him down. He had faith in God and trusted his future to God’s plan. And he dared to stand and share the promises of God with those with him and to lead them to safety through the storm.