Life’s voyage can get rough at times. There is a preacher’s story about an American man and his wife on board a luxury ship bound for Europe. The husband was seasick and feeling worse than he’d ever felt in his life. He called his wife to sit with him in the stateroom and began to discuss what he wanted her to do if he died. “Remember the will in the top drawer of my desk at home,” he told her. “There should be no problems, but if any snags arise, call our attorney. And if I die before we get to Europe, promise me one thing – promise me that you’ll bury me there. I could never stand the trip back.”
The apostle Paul may have had a similar feeling in Acts chapter 27. Paul is on his way to Rome (verse 1). Christ had revealed to him back in Acts 23:11 that he would go there to preach the gospel. But if Christ wanted Paul in Rome you can bank on it the devil didn’t. So it is in Acts 27:14ff, Paul and the ship he was on, along with 275 other souls, ran smack dab into a hurricane-like storm on the Mediterranean Sea. The inspired author of Acts (presumed to be Luke) writes in verse 14 that “a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.” This bodacious storm threatened the lives of all on board, and Luke says in verse 18 that “we were exceedingly tempest-tossed.” After desperate measures to lighten the ship, Luke writes these somber words in verse 20 – “Now when neither sun nor moon appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we should be saved was finally given up.”
Be careful to make this distinction – what they gave up was not desire to be saved, but expectation of being saved. What a situation Paul is in! On the way to Rome to preach for Christ– and the trip is threatening to kill him! They can’t get off or turn back, and they can’t get away from the storm. What do you do when things look hopeless?
Some reading these words know how they felt. Your ship is being “exceedingly tempest-tossed” to the point all hope (expectation) you can outlast the storm has all but been given up. It may be a marriage storm or a family storm, a money storm, a medical storm, or an emotional storm – and it just won’t go away. What can you do when the storm is sinking you?
Quick masturbation continue reading this order levitra and banging against hard surfaces make penis vulnerable to deterioration. The antibody is doing its best, by waging a full-scale war against the enemy cialis where but is accidentally targeting your kidney instead. Out of all the problems the one which is said to be affected by a number of men who levitra generika 10mg desire treatment has also increased. This increases downtownsault.org generic cialis pill the amount of another important enzyme known as guanylate cyclase. Get a Bible and read Paul’s story – but don’t stop at Acts 27:20! By the end of the chapter, the ship is indeed in shambles, but Paul and the rest survive. He goes on to Rome, and the book of ACTS closes with him preaching and teaching Christ! Acts 27:22-25 relates that an Angel came to Paul on board the storm-tossed ship with the reassuring message that he and all the others would survive. After sharing that message with the other passengers, Paul proclaimed in Acts 27:25, “Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.” What an amazing affirmation of faith!
The anchors that sustained Paul through that raging storm were the presence, plan, and promises of God! Truth be told, the safest place to be in life is not on a calm, storm-less sea, without faith and outside the will of God, for the storm of God’s judgment is up ahead for all (Matthew 7:24-27).
No, the safest place for your soul, no matter how severe or prolonged the storms in your life, is to have faith and be inside the will of God! The word of the Lord endures forever (1 Peter 1:25), and so will you if you do God’s will (1 John 2:17)! Are you in a storm? Anchor yourself in God and His word.
–Dan Gulley