Daily Scripture Reading Acts 27:18-38
As we go through life, we will often encounter situations where people are about to make a foolish decision. Their unwise choice may negatively affect us. Sometimes people will heed our advice to change course, and sometimes they will not. It is frustrating to watch people ignore our advice and suffer the consequences, but then it can be equally perplexing as to the appropriate time to offer additional advice. If they didn’t heed our insight in order to avoid a bad situation, they may not accept our recommendation on how to get out of their predicament either.
This happened to Paul. He gave some advice that was ignored and the consequences were life-threatening. However, the timing of his advice once they were in the midst of the crisis gives us an option to consider when we are in a similar circumstance.
Yesterday, we read that Paul and some other prisoners were sent to Rome in the care of a centurion named Julius. When they sailed past Asia, the wind was against them, so they went south to Crete and arrived in the harbor of Lasea. Paul advised the crew to stay in Lasea, since it was a bad time of year to sail, but the crew and passengers wanted a better place to winter, so they set sail for Phoenix. However, soon after they left port, a wind came along and blew them away from land.
Acts 27:18 And the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo;
Don’t miss the pronoun “we”. This tells us Luke was also on the ship. He experienced this storm first-hand.
Acts 27:19 and on the third day they cast the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
Acts 27:20 And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.
Note the words “hope” and “abandoned”. The people on the ship lost hope they would survive their voyage. This means they were at a low point emotionally. Another way to put it is they had hit bottom. They were desperate.
Acts 27:21 ¶ And when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice to not set sail from Crete and to avoid this damage and loss.
Luke did not say “we” went a long time without food. He said “they” went without.
Think about when Paul made this statement. He said this after they had hit bottom. Paul knew before they set sail from Crete it was foolish to do so, and he warned them accordingly, but the majority followed their fleshly desires to get to a better harbor and set sail anyway. It wasn’t until they hit bottom that they would admit Paul had been right, meaning they might start listening to his advice.
If we are ever in a situation where our advice has been ignored and we are trying to figure out when to give additional advice, it may be wise to wait until the other person hits bottom. That is the point at which they may be willing to accept words of wisdom. When they are desperate, they may admit they were wrong.
Acts 27:22 And now I advise you to be cheerful, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
Acts 27:23 For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,
Acts 27:24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’
Acts 27:25 Therefore, be cheerful, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.
Acts 27:26 But we must run aground on some island.”
Take note of Paul’s confidence. They were helpless against the storm, but Paul had received a message from God, and he believed God, so he had confidence because he believed in God’s word.
As we go through life, we will experience many situations where the future will be unknown. That will cause us to lose hope or be afraid. However, just as Paul had confidence in God’s word, so too we should have confidence in every promise contained in the Bible, because it is God’s word, and God will fulfill His promises.
Acts 27:27 ¶ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them.
Fourteen days is a long time to be cast about in a storm.
Acts 27:28 And when they took soundings, they found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.
Acts 27:29 And fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying for daybreak.
Acts 27:30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow,
Acts 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”
Pay attention to the words “you yourselves”. Paul did not warn that the soldiers getting into the boat would not survive. He warned that the Romans still on the ship would not survive.
Acts 27:32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.
Paul had warned the Romans against leaving the harbor in Crete, but they ignored him. Since Paul had been proven right about the danger, now the Romans listened to Paul and did as he advised. They listened because they were desperate. They knew their chance of surviving this journey was very small and their only hope was to follow Paul’s advice.
Acts 27:33 ¶ Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing.
It seems that after fourteen days without food, they would have been very weak.
Acts 27:34 Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your salvation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”
Acts 27:35 And having said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat.
Acts 27:36 And all of them became cheerful and they themselves also took food.
Don’t overlook the word “cheerful”. Paul managed to lift their spirits and give them some hope.
We see that the people on the ship took food. Once again, the Romans, crew, and passengers did has Paul had suggested because Paul had been proven to be wiser than the majority.
Acts 27:37 And all of us in the ship were 276 persons.
Acts 27:38 And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.
They believed they were coming to land, so lightening the ship would allow the ship to run shallower in the water, lessening the risk they would hit a rock.
As we go through life, there will be times we offer advice, it will be ignored, but then subsequent events will prove we were right. The people who ignore our advice may suffer some serious setbacks as a result of not following our recommendation. That leads to the dilemma of when and how to offer some additional guidance.
When Paul was in that situation, he waited until the people on the ship lost hope and hit bottom. That is the point at which he gave additional suggestions.
What are some occasions when you warned somebody of the foolishness of their course of action, but they did it anyway and suffered harm?
What is a current situation in which you are trying to decide if and when to give some counsel?
How desperate is the person to whom you are considering giving some counsel?
What should you look for in order to determine a person has hit bottom and is ready to accept some advice?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”