Acts 27:21-38
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.[1]
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What struck me in today’s passage is the encouragement that Paul gave his fellow sailors. Despite being a prisoner, and going to what could have been his execution, he becomes a leader among the crew, and in particular an encourager as they faced the aftermath of the storm.
Granted, Paul had special information thanks to the visitation he had received from an angel. He was already confident that he would survive because the Lord had previously promised that he would testify in Rome. But Paul wasn’t content just to take comfort for himself with this information. He sought to encourage and help all those on the ship, even those who were holding him prisoner.
Am I an encourager to the people around me? Do people see me as an encourager, helping through their shipwrecks? I don’t need to have a visit from an angel to have encouraging information to share. It’s all in God’s Word. Sometimes the encouragement doesn’t need to be special knowledge of the outcome, but simply our presence and support.
My prayer today is simply that I might be an encouragement to someone today, helping them along life’s path with my presence, support and assistance.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ac 27:21–38). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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