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Context No. 2318 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 27:33-44: in context

33While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. 34Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.” 35When he had said this and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all; then he broke it and began to eat. 36Then they all cheered up, and they also took food. 37In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship. 38When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. 39When it was day, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. 40Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. 41But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves. 42The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. 43But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; 44and the rest should follow, some on planks and some on other things from the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.

As Paul's ship is driven by a violent storm and about to be wrecked, terror grips the two hundred seventy-six people aboard, who have not eaten for fourteen days. But Paul is calm. He urges them all to take food for their strength, assuring them that not a hair of their heads will perish, for God has promised their safety. Then he takes bread, gives thanks to God before them all, and eats. Encouraged by his calm and his faith, the others take heart and eat too. And in the end, though the ship is wrecked, all reach land safely, as God had promised.

Paul's bearing in the storm is a study in the steadying power of faith. All around him was terror: a violent storm, a ship breaking up, people who had given up hope of survival. And Paul was calm. His calm did not come from denying the danger, which was real, but from trusting God's promise that all would be saved. And out of that calm, he encouraged the others, urged them to eat, gave thanks to God openly, and steadied the whole company. His faith not only held him but strengthened those around him; encouraged by his calm and his trust in God, they took heart. This shows us the steadying presence that faith can be in a crisis. When trouble comes, terror and panic are natural; and the fearful spread their fear to others. But the one who trusts God can be calm in the storm, not because the danger is not real, but because God is trusted; and that calm steadies not only the believer but those around them. Paul's faith made him a steadying presence in the shipwreck, encouraging and strengthening the frightened crew. He will not be afraid of evil news, the psalmist says of the one who trusts God; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. The steadfast heart, trusting God, is calm in the storm and steadies others. This encourages us to be such a presence in our own crises, and to trust God so as to be. When crisis comes, do we spread panic, adding our fear to others' fear? Or can we, trusting God, be calm in the storm, and by our calm steady those around us? Paul's faith gave him a calm that encouraged and strengthened the whole ship. And our own trust in God can make us a steadying presence to others in a crisis, our calm born of faith helping to steady their fear. You will keep in perfect peace, Isaiah says, the one whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. This calls us to trust God so as to be calm and steadying in crisis. Paul, trusting God's promise, was calm in the shipwreck and steadied the frightened crew, encouraging them and giving thanks to God amid the storm; and we too are called to trust God so deeply that we can be calm in our own crises, and by that calm, born of faith, steady and encourage those around us, being a steadying presence in the storm rather than one who adds to the panic, our peace resting on the God we trust even when the storm rages.

When crisis comes, do I spread panic and add my fear to others' fear, or can Paul, who amid the terror of the storm and shipwreck was calm, encouraging the frightened crew and giving thanks to God because he trusted God's promise, move me to trust God so deeply that I can be calm in my own crises and, by that calm born of faith, steady and encourage those around me, being a steadying presence in the storm rather than one who adds to the panic, my peace resting on the God I trust?

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