Acts 27:27-44<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic\u00a0Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.\u00a028\u00a0They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet\u00a0deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet\u00a0deep.\u00a029\u00a0Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.\u00a030\u00a0In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat\u00a0down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.\u00a031\u00a0Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, \u201cUnless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.\u201d\u00a032\u00a0So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.\u00a0 33\u00a0Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. \u201cFor the last fourteen days,\u201d he said,\u00a0\u201cyou have been in constant suspense and have gone without food\u2014you\u00a0haven\u2019t eaten anything.\u00a034\u00a0Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive.\u00a0Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.\u201d\u00a035\u00a0After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it\u00a0and began to eat.\u00a036\u00a0They were all encouraged\u00a0and ate some food themselves.\u00a037\u00a0Altogether there were 276 of us on board.\u00a038\u00a0When they had\u00a0eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.\u00a0 39\u00a0When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach,\u00a0where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.\u00a040\u00a0Cutting loose the anchors,\u00a0they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.\u00a041\u00a0But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. 42\u00a0The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.\u00a043\u00a0But the centurion wanted to spare Paul\u2019s life\u00a0and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.\u00a044\u00a0The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship.\u00a0In this way everyone reached land safely.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach,\u00a0where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.\u00a040\u00a0Cutting loose the anchors,\u00a0they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The sailors and all those on board did not recognize the bay with the sandy beach but they saw it as their best chance to survive.\u00a0\u00a0They cut loose the anchors and dropped them into the sea.\u00a0\u00a0This sandy beach appeared to be a safe place to beach the ship.\u00a0\u00a0They raised the main sail to allow the wind to drive them toward the land.\u00a0\u00a0Likely, their hopes were rising as they headed for a chance to get out of the raging sea.<\/p>\n
\u201c41\u00a0But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0A sandbar, or also called an Offshore Bar, is sand that is built up by the offshore breaking of waves and the resulting swirling water.\u00a0\u00a0So before reaching the beach, they became stuck offshore with the waves pounding the stern (rear) of the ship.\u00a0\u00a0The strength of the violent waves was breaking their ship apart.\u00a0\u00a0They had wanted to land on the sandy beach and pull the ship onto the land to save it.\u00a0\u00a0It would not be so.\u00a0\u00a0They were in a desperate situation and needed to act quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.\u00a043\u00a0But the centurion wanted to spare Paul\u2019s life\u00a0and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.\u00a044\u00a0The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship.\u00a0In this way everyone reached land safely.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The soldiers had a duty to fulfill.\u00a0\u00a0If prisoners escaped it would then be them who would be in peril, not from the sea but from Rome.\u00a0\u00a0They felt they could justify killing the prisoners, but could not justify having let them escape.\u00a0\u00a0To keep them from escaping they planned to kill all the prisoners, including Paul.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, just as Paul knew the deadly sea would not kill him (because of God\u2019s prophetic word to him (Acts 23:11<\/b>), he knew these men likewise would not kill him.\u00a0\u00a0It is the purpose of God for our lives that will not fail, the purpose of men often will.\u00a0\u00a0If God is with us, indeed, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31, Psalm 91:9-16<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Paul wrote those words and he witnessed the reality of them many times in his service to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0(2 Corinthians 23-27<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rest assured, Paul knew he needed no weapon to defend himself, his protector was God and not himself.\u00a0\u00a0(Psalm 34:19, Psalm 138:7<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Was he in danger?\u00a0\u00a0Well the potential for them killing him was there, but Paul knew that potential would fall like fruit that falls to the ground and rots.\u00a0\u00a0God was watching over him and so He would be safe.\u00a0\u00a0And Paul knew that absolutely.<\/p>\n
The centurion must have been a strong and respected leader as he, at that chaotic and perilous time, could assert his command and make it so.\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t know his integrity before this journey, but if how he treated Paul was an indicator he was a compassionate and strong leader.\u00a0\u00a0It seems likely that the men trusted him and also dared not cross him.\u00a0\u00a0The centurion was wise enough to at least know that Paul was a man of God and so no harm would come to Paul if the centurion could stop it.\u00a0\u00a0At this point, are you like me in hoping that the centurion came to the know Jesus as his Savior and Lord.\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t know, but I hope so.<\/p>\n
The centurion ordered that those who swam well would swim to the beach before others left the ship.\u00a0\u00a0From there they could spread out and make sure no prisoners could escape.\u00a0\u00a0The centurion knew Paul\u2019s mindset.\u00a0\u00a0He knew Paul was certain that God was calling him to Rome and so Paul would not seek to escape.<\/p>\n
Thinking we have a hold of God\u2019s plan for us, thinking that we have it the \u201cendzone\u201d in sight, we hurry forward with excitement.\u00a0\u00a0Then we run aground on a sandbar of life.\u00a0\u00a0Not quite reaching the goal.\u00a0\u00a0Will His plans for us still come true?\u00a0\u00a0Can we still trust Him?\u00a0\u00a0Has all the provision and protection stopped?\u00a0\u00a0No, no, no!\u00a0\u00a0His love for us never wanes, never fades, never stops, and so His provision for us and protection of us also continue.\u00a0\u00a0(Psalm 100:5<\/b>) Paul saw many times, having been beaten, stoned, almost being physically torn apart that God is worthy of His trust. (2 Corinthians 23-27<\/b>) He knew that God would keep Him until He would bring him home.\u00a0\u00a0(2 Timothy 1:12<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Family, we must keep our minds on who God is.\u00a0\u00a0We must remember all His goodness and faithfulness to us.\u00a0\u00a0We must remember who He has revealed to us that He is.\u00a0\u00a0We must keep our minds on these things.\u00a0\u00a0Our hearts must belong firstly to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Our eyes must be set upon our Master for His guidance.\u00a0\u00a0Then, through all times and all circumstances, we may have the same confident assurance in God as Paul had.\u00a0\u00a0God is in control and His will shall be done.\u00a0\u00a0Let us find peace, rest and comfort in that, to the praise of our God!\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n
P<\/b><\/span>salm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.<\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.<\/p>\n Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acts 27:27-44\u00a0–\u00a0On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic\u00a0Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.\u00a028\u00a0They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet\u00a0deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet\u00a0deep.\u00a029\u00a0Fearing that we would be dashed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,94,1874,17,10,2036],"class_list":["post-2228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-romans","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}