Scripture Reading: “. . . this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship. . . . take heart . . . for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.” Acts 27:23, 25
I always hated when someone told me after some bad decision, “I told you so.” My in-the-head reply: “Yeah, whatever; too late for that now, and you're not helping.” But if someone said, "There's still hope," they had my ear!
Paul became that person to the crew and passengers on his “cruise” to Rome (Acts 27:1-28:16). He was appealing his case to Caesar. (The Jews of Jerusalem wanted this troublemaker dead.) Winds were contrary on every leg of the journey, and despite every skilled effort by pilot and crew—hugging the shoreline, staying on the lee side of islands—it was very slow-going. They tried dipping down to Crete, a long, narrow island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. With much difficulty, they finally made it to Fair Haven, a harbor midway along Crete’s southern coast.
Paul warned those in charge not to try sailing farther. Autumn and its treacherous weather were upon them. But the centurion in charge chose to listen to the pilot and the ship’s owner: Press on to a more suitable harbor. Finally, a good breeze came. They gambled on reaching Phoenix at the far western edge of Crete, just 45 miles and a much better place to hole up for winter. But no sooner had they set out than a fierce, blasting wind came from land to shore, blowing them out to sea—“reasonable risk” turned “bad bet.” Ever tried leaping across a stream and realized, too late, that it's six inches wider than your best jump?
So it was here: This ill-advised decision cast them into storm-tossed seas that forced them to jettison cargo, then the ship’s tackle, and, finally, all hope of being saved. They bobbed around for two weeks under dark skies, so occupied with surviving that they didn’t even eat. Then Paul told the others, “Take heart!” which could be translated, "Cheer up!" (Acts 27:22 & 25). He learned from an angel of God how it would turn out: All 276 would survive, but the ship would be lost. In the following hours, the ship lodged on a reef and was dashed to pieces, but everyone made it to shore and, ultimately, to Rome.
We, too, are sometimes subject to circumstances beyond our control or consequences of decisions by others, whether the pilot of a storm-tossed plane, an errant Uber driver, the drunken driver barreling toward a light that turned red for him but green for you, or the unwitting carrier of a virus. As Paul said to his hopeless companions, take heart—cheer up! We may not receive angelic assurances in the current circumstance, but we know with certainty, by faith, how it all turns out. It’s no gamble to trust our God, who delivered us from darkness to light, death to life, hopelessness to assurance of salvation and eternal life. Our prayer, both now and from now on, can be,
"Dear Father, the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, Your will be done, Your good purpose be fulfilled in my life and the lives of those dear to me. Thank You now and forever. Amen."