Acts 27:20: “Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.”

April 24th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Paul was traveling by ship to Italy to appear before Caesar. They had been sailing for some time when a storm blew up. The weather was so bad they could not even use navigational sighting from the stars to compute their position. They had no idea how far they were or even what direction they were headed.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, storms are used to illustrate difficulties in a believer’s life. There are many kinds of storms: relationship, financial, health, business, etc. The course of life seems to be going well, when suddenly you notice waves all around you, increasing in size and frequency. The seas become rougher and before you know it, the waves are crashing over the bow of your ship and it seems like “all hope [of being] saved [is] finally given up.”

It was into this gloomy set of circumstances that Paul spoke words of life and faith: “Take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you but only of the ship” (Acts 27:22). God was saying through Paul, “Don’t look at the circumstances because I have a plan for you that goes beyond your current difficulties. You are not going to die here. I have further use for you.” Paul told them that God had already told him that he would appear before Caesar, and that everyone else on the boat would also survive. Now that is a word of encouragement from the throne of Grace! God was faithful to perform what He had promised in their lives, and He does the same in our lives today. Take hope this day that your anchor is held secure by the promises of God to you. God has promised that He will never leave you—so He will not. As someone taught us many years ago to pray in such storms:

“GOD, You have said it. We believe it. That settles it. Amen.”