Acts 27:20 “And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.”
The Apostle Paul was a faithful and committed servant of His Lord; yet, he was onboard a ship that was being destroyed by an awful storm. Furthermore, he was a prisoner, guarded by Roman soldiers who were taking him to Rome for trial. The soldiers probably didn’t know it, but they were carrying out the will of God, for the Lord intended for Paul to preach the Gospel in Rome, but he would do it as a prisoner. As the storm raged, it became apparent that the ship was going to be lost and “all hope that we should be saved was then taken away”; that is, “saved” from death! Paul, having received assurance from the Lord, advised the ship’s captain and the Roman Commander to stay with the ship and there would be no loss of life when the ship was destroyed. And, just before the ship began to come apart, Paul prayed and they “took some meat” (Acts 27:36). They took Paul’s counsel and every soul onboard was ultimately “saved” alive and they found refuge on an island. Our Lord is still watching over, leading, and protecting those who faithfully serve Him. At the present time, it seems that before we can recover from one bad thing, another is thrust upon us, and then another, etc. But the same Lord is on His Throne watching over us, encouraging us, and delivering us. Sometimes, it seems that the problems are so bad that they just simply cannot get any worse; then, the dark and ugly cloud of despair tries to smother us. But, “that spiritual Rock that followed” (I Corinthians 10:4) and delivered Israel through the wilderness is still our delivering “Rock”! Like Paul and Israel, we should have no doubt that our blessed and holy “spiritual Rock” will see us through our present bad turn of events and storms as we pray and remain faithful to our Lord even in the midst of our tribulations!