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September 29 - Acts 27 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. And it is a Monday.
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  It is the 29th of September. Great to have your company at
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  the start of a new week. And this might be the start of a
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  new week, but it is the end of our journey through the book of
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  Acts Today and tomorrow we'll finish off the last two chapters
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  of Acts and then we will crack open the phenomenal book of
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  Romans where Paul lays out so much in the way of theology and
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  thinking and urging unity in our church.
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  But we'll get to that on Wednesday.
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  For now, we are going to see Paul attempt to get to Rome, not
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  so successfully today, but he'll get there tomorrow.
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  But on the way, some high drama in the high seas as we read
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  together Acts Chapter 27. When the time came, we set sail
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  for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners
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  were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a
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  captain of the imperial regiment.
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  Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us.
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  We left on a ship whose home port was Adramiteus, on the
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  northwest coast of the province of Asia.
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  It was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast
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  of the province the next day when we docked at Sidon.
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  Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit his
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  friends so they could provide for his needs.
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  Putting out the sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds
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  that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed
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  north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland.
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  Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of
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  Sicilia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra in the province of
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  Lycia. There the commanding officer
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  found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for
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  Italy, and he put us on board. We had several days of slow
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  sailing and after great difficulty we finally neared
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  Nidus, but the wind was against us, so we sailed across Tikrit
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  and along the sheltered coast of the island past the Cape of
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  Salmone. We struggled along the coast
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  with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens
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  near the town of Lacea. We had lost a lot of time.
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  The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because
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  it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship's
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  officers about it. Men, he said.
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  I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on shipwreck, loss of
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  cargo, and danger to all our lives as well.
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  But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the
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  ship's captain and the owner than to Paul.
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  And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbour, a poor place to
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  spend the winter, most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix,
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  farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there.
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  Phoenix was a good harbour with only a southwest and northwest
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  exposure. When a light wind began blowing
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  from the South, the sailors thought they could make it, so
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  they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.
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  But the weather changed abruptly and a wind of typhoon strength
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  called the northeaster burst across the island and blew us
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  out to sea. The sailors couldn't turn the
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  ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the
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  Gale. We sailed along the sheltered
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  side of a small island named Corda, where with great
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  difficulty, we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind
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  us. When the sailors bound ropes
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  around the hull of the ship to strengthen it, they were afraid
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  of being driven across to the sandbars of Sertis off the
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  African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship
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  and were driven before the wind. The next day, as Gale force
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  winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing
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  the cargo overboard. The following day they even took
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  some of the ship's gear and threw it overboard.
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  The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun
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  and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.
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  No one had eaten for a long time.
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  Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, Men, you
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  should have listened to me in the 1st place and not left
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  Crete. You would have avoided all this
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  damage and loss, but take courage.
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  None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will
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  go down. For last night an Angel of the
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  Lord to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me.
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  And he said, don't be afraid Paul, for you will surely stand
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  trial before Caesar. What's more, God in his goodness
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  has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.
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  So take courage, for I believe God it will be just as he said,
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  but we will be shipwrecked on an island.
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  About midnight on the 14th night of the storm, as we were being
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  driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was
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  near. They dropped a weighted line and
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  found that the water was 120 feet deep.
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  But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90
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  feet deep. At this rate, they were afraid
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  we would be driven against the rocks along the shore.
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  So they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and
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  prayed for daylight. Then the sailors tried to
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  abandon ship. They lowered the lifeboat as
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  though they were going to put out anchors from the front of
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  the ship. But Paul said to the commanding
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  officer and the soldiers, you will all die unless the sailors
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  stay aboard. So the soldiers cut the ropes to
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  the lifeboat and let it drift away.
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  Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat.
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  You have been so worried that you haven't touched food for two
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  weeks, he said. Please eat something now for
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  your own good, for not a hair of your heads will perish.
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  Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all,
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  and broke off a piece and ate it.
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  Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat, all 276 of us who
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  were on board. After eating, the crew lightened
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  the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.
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  When morning dawned, they didn't recognise the coastline, but
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  they saw a Bay with the beach and wondered if they could get
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  to shore by running the ship aground.
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  So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea.
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  Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail and headed
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  towards shore. But they hit a Shoal and ran the
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  ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast
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  while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the
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  waves and began to break apart. The soldiers wanted to kill the
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  prisoners to make sure they didn't swim ashore and escape.
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  But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he
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  didn't let them carry out their plan.
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  Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and
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  make for land. The others held on to planks or
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  debris from the broken ship, so everyone escaped safely to
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  shore. Ah, Lord, I am grateful that
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  this is not a normal part of my life, having to deal with
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  shipwrecks like this. But Lord, we see that even in
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  this most dire of situations, as the shipwreck is taking place,
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  you are there with your people. You are guiding them.
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  You are giving them safe passage through the storm to the other
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  side. Oh Lord, we may not be
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  shipwrecked on a regular basis, but we certainly do have
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  challenging times and metaphorical shipwrecks in our
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  lives. And Lord, I wonder where you are
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  in those times. I wonder how it is that you are
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  guiding us and leading us. Jesus, as we find ourselves in
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  those turbulent, difficult, stormy seas, I pray that the
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  question would always be, where is Jesus holding me and leading
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  me through this so that we can see your hand at play and we can
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  know that our lives are held by you to bring about your glory to
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  your Kingdom, no matter how out of control it feels.
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  Thank you that You do hold our lives so closely with such love
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  and generosity and mercy. You are a good, good God, and we
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  love you, and we thank you for all that You are, all that
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  you've done for us, and most of all for what you've done for us
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  through Jesus. And so we pray all of this in
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  your name, Jesus, Amen.