Stormy Seas

STORMY SEAS

Acts 27:13-44

The bible is full of exciting stories. Some of them involve tumultuous weather on the open seas. We have the story of the violent storm that threatened the lives of the Apostles while Jesus was asleep. They woke him and Jesus quieted the storm.

There's the story of when Jesus approached his disciples walking on the water. They were unsure whether it was really Jesus so Peter asked for a confirmation, 'if it's really you, have me come to you on the water'. Jesus told him to come. Peter got out of the boat and walked on water until he took his focus off of Jesus, becoming overwhelmed by the wind and waves. He started to sink but Jesus rescued him.

In Acts 23, we read about Paul getting arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. During the inquiry a dispute arose between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Vs. 10 states it became violent to where the guard thought Paul was going to be torn to pieces. He got Paul out of there and brought him to the barracks. The next night Jesus came to Paul and told him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” This would be important for Paul to hold onto in the coming days.

The next morning, the Jews conspired to kill Paul but God intervened. Chapters 24&25 describe Paul's trials before Felix and Festus and then having an audience with King Agrippa. In Chapter 26, Paul recounts his conversion testimony for King Agrippa before boarding a ship headed for Rome.

Chapter 27 provides a detailed account of the journey. It describes how the wind became treacherous and they were taken off course. A lot of time had been lost and it became more dangerous to sail because it was now past the safe sailing season. Paul tried to warn them what would happen if they continued but the pilot and the owner of the ship didn't listen. They were hoping to make it to Crete and winter there. But their smooth sailing became incredibly rough.

1) The 'Northeaster' (13-20).

Wow, what a scene! The details and descriptive nature of these verses sound like they're from a movie script. Speaking of movies: 'Perfect Storm'. Andrea Gail was a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all six crew members during what was known as the Perfect Storm in 1991. This account was the basis for the 1997 book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and the film of the same name in 2000.

The Perfect Storm lasted from Oct. 28-Nov. 2, 1991. Bob Case, a retired meteorologist, named it the perfect storm because the set of meteorological circumstances leading to the storm only happen every 50-100 years; which led to it being called the storm of the century. Several weather events (both a low and high pressure system and a hurricane) came together to create the massive storm, which produced 75 mph winds and 100-foot waves.

Movies like The Perfect Storm helps to provide a visual for what Paul and the guys were dealing with. When your situation is so dire that you're throwing the cargo and tackle overboard; it's not good. When you have to use ropes to hold the ship together the odds are not in your favor that you're going to make it through this voyage alive. Words like panic, fear, dread, hopelessness come to mind.

After dealing with this violent, raging storm for many days, Luke, the writer of Acts, who was on the ship, felt there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Vs. 20-we gave up all hope of being saved. Have you ever been in a position of despair where you truly felt like there was no hope of anything getting better? Then someone came along and encouraged you to keep going and not give up?

2) "Keep up your courage" (21-26).

It's kind of comical that Paul starts this encouraging address by telling them, "I told you this was going to happen. But did you listen? Noooo!" Was Paul doing this to rub it in? No, it was to set the stage for what he was about to say regarding God's voice.

Paul wanted them to know that when he warned them earlier it wasn't coming from him; he wasn't just being worrisome or trying to trick them to be able to escape; his words were from God. It's like he was saying, 'ok, you didn't listen to me before and we see how that's working out. Now let's see if you'll listen."

Paul was about to tell them he received a message from an angel of God. If Paul didn't remind them of what he told them before, they probably would've dismissed what he was saying now. But Paul's reminder showed them he was worth listening to. When we don't listen to God and go our own way, things won't get any better for us. So the next time God tries to get our attention, he may remind us about the last time he tried to get through to us and we didn't listen to see if we're ready to listen now.