One of the things I was looking forward to the most about our Journeys of Paul cruise this past summer was getting to see what Paul’s voyage across the Mediterranean would have looked like. I’ve always wondered what it looked like as Paul was on that ship traveling to Rome.
Voila!
Isn’t the color of the water incredible! I have never in my life seen such a gorgeous blue color of water stretching out as far as the eye can see!
So this was what the Apostle Paul was seeing as he was aboard the ship traveling to Rome.
Well … not quite. Hubby and I were sailing on perfectly smooth calm seas in the summer. Paul’s journey was at the beginning of winter … and it was stormy all the way!
Here is the account in Acts 27 …
“When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia [this would be following along the southern coastline of Türkiye], and we put out to sea.
“When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
“We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
“We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.” – Acts 27:1-2, 5-8
During hubby’s and my cruise this past summer we were supposed to dock in Mykonos. Here you can see Mykonos as our ship was arriving very early in the morning, just as the sun was peeking up over the island.
The wind was intense!
Because it was so early in the morning, most people were not up yet. However, hubby and I are early risers … so we were up on the top deck watching as the ship attempted to pull in to port.
The wind coming off the island of Mykonos was so strong that the ship could not advance against it. Try as hard as it could, the ship’s engines simply were no match for the wind. The wind was too strong!
You could hear the engines straining as they tried to get the ship close to the island … but it was no use. After trying for about 30 minutes, the captain gave up the effort, and our ship slowly began sailing away.
“This is just like the account in the book of Acts! When the wind was against Paul’s ship!” was my ‘blink’ thought in that moment, as I stood in the intense wind next to hubby, hanging tightly to the railing of the ship trying not to get blown across the deck. To be honest, I was quite excited to experience a “Paul moment” … when we felt a bit of what Paul and his shipmates felt as the wind had likewise been against them … only much worse!
As our ship turned to sail away from Mykonos, hubby and I noticed another smaller cruise ship behind ours which was also attempting to pull in to the port on Mykonos. It likewise was not able to prevail against the wind. The wind drove it away too, just like our ship. And after a bit of trying, it turned and began sailing away just like our ship did.
Continuing the account of Paul’s voyage in Acts …
“Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, ‘Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.’
“But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on …” – Acts 27:9-12
Here is the life application I have been pondering on.
Life is hard! Life itself is really hard. Trying to survive each day at work is like trying to sail against the winds coming off Mykonos. It feels impossible! The wind is against us! Constantly.
It’s just like Paul’s journey: “We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, …” (Acts 27:7)
In life and in our place of work it feels like we are making slow headway.
Getting through each day of life and work is great difficulty.
The “winds” do not allow us to hold our course. We feel constantly “blown off course.”
Just like Paul spoke wisdom to the centurion and the crew that it would not be safe to continue on … so also, in life we can see that certain decisions are not wise. We speak words of warning and wisdom to our work leadership, to our coworkers, to those around us whom we interact with each day. We attempt to position our life in a place of wisdom … but just like Paul was not in control of his own life (he was a prisoner at the mercy of others’ decisions), so also we find ourselves not in control of our own life either. The outcome we face is largely due to the decisions of others.
Foolish people are making stupid decisions … and we personally are going to “run aground” because of it!
“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.“ – Acts 27:20
This is the way life feels sometimes.
Sometimes we feel so battered by the storms of life that we give up all hope that we will ever come out of it. We just want to give up. It feels as if all is hopeless.
It feels as if we “haven’t seen the sun or stars for many days.” The “storm” of life we are in continues to rage. We give up hope that any good is on the other side.
In the middle of this situation … when there hasn’t been a sign of hope for a very long time … when there has been no sight of sun or stars for a very long time … Paul stands up and says this:
“Now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid …” – Acts 27:22-24
God’s message for each one of us in the middle of our own “storm” today is the same! Keep up your courage! Do not be afraid!
Yes … we might be having to deal with the “fall out” and the consequences of stupid decisions by foolish people. But don’t give up your courage.
Yes … it’s painful! It’s discouraging. Everything in us doesn’t want to get up and go out there to face another day. But don’t give up your courage. Don’t give up your hope.
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” – Hebrews 10:35
Don’t give up your courage.
Don’t give up your hope.
