Remember the context.  Paul is a prisoner on his way to Rome to be tried before Caesar’s court.  He has been in prison almost 3 years now, waiting for justice– he has done nothing wrong, except fearlessly proclaim the gospel.  Even though he is a prisoner, for the sake of Christ, he is at peace, because the Lord has already told him that he must stand trial in Rome and declare the gospel there also. 

I don’t know that Paul was an expert sailor, but he has sailed many times on his missionary journeys.  The ship which Paul and other prisoners are placed on struggles to get to a port on the southern side of Crete, because it was the wrong season for sailing this particular direction.  As Paul prayed about things, apparently he received direction from the Lord, so he warned them to not try and go further, but this port in Fair Haven was less suitable for wintering because it was smaller and more exposed to bad weather.  The captain had no intention, as far as I can discern, of sailing far– only to the western end of Crete, so they decided, despite Paul’s warning, to go on. 

I want to stop here for a moment, because Paul does something here which I have thought through and believe is in the right spirit.  He speaks truth to those who are in authority in this situation.  He doesn’t hold back what he believes the Lord has shown to him.  He does so respectfully, as far as I can tell, but is clear in his warning, his admonishment.  Even as a prisoner, the centurion is already aware that Paul is not your ordinary prisoner.  He is obviously well educated and respected by many others.  No doubt the centurion has been briefed on the events surrounding Paul’s arrest, and there seems to be a certain respect given to Paul that would not be ordinarily conferred on a prisoner.  Paul warns them strongly, but then leaves the decision with those who have authority to make the decision.  Captain, this is your decision and your boat, but the Lord has shown to me that if we leave this port your ship– your livelihood and cargo and the lives of those you are responsible over on this ship will be lost.  When the centurion and captain decide on a different course, Paul knows God is still in control.

Let me suggest to you that when the Lord shows you something, or you think you discern a problem or a solution to an issue at work, at church, or perhaps in your extended family, you are to clearly speak what is on your heart regarding the issue and solution, and then release control to those in authority in that situation.  You are not responsible before the Lord once you have spoken what you believe is on the Lord’s heart to those in authority.  From this point on, those in authority are responsible for how they respond to the information or insight which has been given.  You can and should pray it through, but let it go.  Paul does this very well in this passage.

I remember the first time I learned this lesson from a seasoned campus staff minister.  Dr. Fred, as we called him in InterVarsity circles, was the person who oversaw ministry to faculty on college campuses across the USA for InterVarsity.  The chapter at the University of North Carolina was preparing for a huge outreach to the campus, which featured Dr. Billy Graham and other incredibly strong Christian leaders.  Dr Fred had met with a couple of key Christians on the faculty at UNC.  I was eating lunch with him afterwards and he was kind of shaking his head, with a slight smile on his face.  He told me that he had spoken to a group of faculty and urged them to make certain steps to develop the ministry to faculty at UNC, and how key this event was going to be to rally Christian faculty together.  He told me he had done all he could do, because in general, he found faculty to be extremely bright people who rarely took initiative to lead something like that which was needed on the campus to make a long lasting impact.  I asked him what else he could do, and he said, “Pray, and wait to see if they ask for any other help.  If the faculty here do not take advantage of the opportunity, and so miss something which God wants to do, there is little more that I can do.”  Too often, Christians place themselves in a position of demanding certain things, and so miss the role which we have been given to influence– speak the truth and pray it into hearts.  The Holy Spirit is the One who changes hearts, not me and not you.  It is all by grace.

II. Being at peace when life is completely out of control.

The ship sails on... and into hurricane force winds.  Last weekend, the Nor’easter slammed the Eastern seaboard of the USA.  This would be similar to what the ship Paul was in suffered, but with stronger and longer lasting winds.  The sense you get from the words used is these hurricane force winds started from the northeast and moved back and forth from the southeast.  These were not novice sailors.  The storm was so violent and so long lasting that the people on board the ship gave up hope that they would live.  When fighting for your lives, you don’t think much about eating.  Their stomachs were probably so riled up they wouldn’t have been able to keep anything down.  I have watched hurricane force winds– 6 hurricanes went over our house when we lived in Wilmington.  There was a concern in me as I watched the winds around me from the inside of a fairly secure house, with windows which had been boarded up.  I can hardly imagine what it would be like being on seas with 30 foot waves towering over your ship and hurricane force winds.  It seems from the text that even Paul was struggling at this point, until the Lord spoke to him through an angel.

Isn’t it often true, when our courage begins to fade, the Lord sends someone to us with a Word to encourage us.  This is exactly what happened to Paul.  There was no one else on board who knew Christ or the Word of God, so God sent an angel to him.  Listen again to verses 23‑26, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.  Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”  The message reinforces what the Lord has already told Paul– that he must stand trial in Rome, and testify about the gospel there.  But it would have been a tremendous encouragement in the midst of a hopeless situation.  Paul does remind them that he warned them not to take this journey, and because they refused to listen, they were reaping the consequences of that poor decision.  God speaks a Word into the helplessness of a human situation and brings peace to Paul.  Paul urges others to encourage them too.  His faith in the Lord would be contagious, on some level.  This is true for us too.

I don’t know what trials face you today.  Some of them may feel hopeless to you.  You may see no way out, and humanly speaking, there may be no way out.  But God has the final Word on anything– doctors do not, leaders do not, experts do not– God does.  When God speaks, you can take it to the bank!  Paul does– he has faith in God that it will happen just as God has told him it will.  So what do you do in the midst of your hopeless situation?  You seek the only One who has the answer. You make some time, go to your favorite place to pray and spend time asking, seeking and listening to what He might say to you.  I take my journal along.  I don’t journal every day, because that is tedious to me, but I journal when I am seeking the Lord, because it is one of the ways I have learned to listen to my heart and to discern what the Lord is saying versus what my flesh is saying.  There is no promise about how long this will take.  It seems like Paul has been struggling along with the rest of the crew with what will happen.  I am quite sure he asked the Lord and sought the Lord for some time about their predicament, because there was little else he could do about the situation.  So, wait in faith.  Spend time in the Word of God, which is one of the primary ways God speaks to us, and when you sense God speaking to your heart, act on that in faith.  This is Paul’s pattern.

Ann, Megan and I spent 1989 in the Philippines.  Towards the end of our time there, we had to make a decision about the next step.  I had a wife and baby to support, and our internship in the Philippines was quickly coming to a close.  Ann and I had prayed on our own and together for the Lord to direct our steps, but I wasn’t hearing anything.  We had tried to keep our options open, but weren’t certain what the Lord was saying.  Our plan had originally been to come back home, raise support and head back to the Philippines longer term, but as we prayed and talked this option through, it became apparent to us that this was not the Lord’s mind for us.  At one point, I remember telling the Lord, “I will sell shoes– I don’t care– just let me know what Your plan is for us and we will seek to follow, but I need to know soon!”  We had done everything we knew to do, so were in that waiting time– a little anxious– but still trusting.  The nagging doubts would occasionally arise– what if you missed the Lord?  What if He doesn’t speak clearly to you this time?–you know the lies that sometimes come in to cloud your thinking.  I would fight those off by reminding myself of the truth– the Lord has always been good to us and clearly showed us what He wanted, so this will be no exception.  When the answer came, it was as clear as an angel coming to stand beside me to tell me.  When the answer came, we knew it was God’s will.  The Lord not only showed us what He wanted, but provided the most perfect living arrangement in Gainesville Florida that you can imagine.  It took some time, and there was some struggle, but God showed Himself faithful...  Again, as He always has in the past.

People of God, Your Lord loves you today right where you are.  His plans for you are for good, not for evil.  The waves might seem high right now and the winds relentlessly strong, but God is still with you in the midst of the storm as He was for Paul!

III. Warning people away from harm, and so be used by God to do His bidding.

A short time later, they are headed for an island but fear they will be dashed against rocks in the darkness of the night.  The sailors see their only opportunity to perhaps save themselves by letting down the lifeboat, pretending that they are simply letting down the anchors.  Paul knows what is going on so again steps in, because the Lord has clearly told him what will happen.  This time, the centurion listens to Paul.  He knows that Paul has known the truth in the past when he told them what would happen to them.  They disregarded his words before and paid dearly for it.  The soldiers intervene this time and cut the ropes on the lifeboat, so the sailors cannot follow through with their misguided plan, which would lead to the deaths of all the others.  Paul then urges them all to eat something since they are growing weak due to lack of food over the past 2 weeks.  He again tells them they will all live if they follow his directions.  Then he prays over the bread and passes it out to the people.  They all ate and were strengthened in body and spirit.  What a tremendous witness.  Paul tells them what the Lord has said.  He is used by God to give directions about what they are to do.  He encourages them and urges them to eat, which does strengthen them.  Remember, this is a prisoner.  He has no official authority or position, but because of his faith and words, becomes a person of great influence. 

This is what we should become, people of God.  The integrity of Christians because of their godly actions which line up with their words, the wisdom of Christians because they pray and know the Word and will of God should lead people in the world around us to trust Christians.  As we reach out to help others, they should see our good deeds and grow to trust God because of what they see in us.  Too often, what the world sees is Christians who are looking out for themselves.  When Christians speak into the world situation, too often it feels like they are throwing rocks from a distance without being willing to get into the situation and get their hands dirty.  I am not saying Christians should not speak up– on the contrary– we should speak up more, but we must place both our money and our actions where our mouth is.  Paul speaks and acts, in accord with what he has spoken.  As we do this, and as we learn to pray in a way so that we know the will of God, we will have more confidence to speak into the situation.  Paul knew the mind of Christ because God revealed it to him as he prayed earnestly and often.  This isn’t just for Paul.  We are called to be people of faith.  We are called to know the mind of the Lord, so that we are blessed as we obey and others around us are blessed as they are influenced by Christians who are obeying the will of God.  What we are talking about is the supernatural life of faith, which all Christians are called to live. 

The result of this is everyone on board is saved.  At one point the soldiers were going to kill all the prisoners, because of the Roman law that if the prisoner you are guarding escapes it is your life for his.  The centurion has grown to trust Paul through this ordeal so prevents this from happening.  We know that God prevented this from happening, because nothing happens without God’s knowledge and ability to stop it.  That is why the best and safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.  Paul is a prisoner, in a ship which is lost at sea, yet he is still in the center of God’s will.  Think about this...

How are you dealing with the shipwrecks in your life?  The first question you need to ask the Lord is, Am I certain that I am in the center of God’s will?  To say that does not mean that you have no shipwrecks in your life, as we see with Paul.  If you are where the Lord wants you to be, then your situation requires trust.  You pray in faith, speak the truth in love and wait upon the Lord to bring about resolution, freedom or whatever it is He knows you need.  God does not always resolve things the way I would like Him to resolve them.  I am sure Paul would much rather have had God overrule the captain before they left Crete than be shipwrecked, but God had other plans, where He would use their disobedience to bring Him greater glory through Paul.  But God’s ultimate purposes are never going to be thwarted, just as His love for you never changes.