Acts 27 - I Ignored the Warning and am in Trouble, is it too Late?

This chapter tells of Paul’s journey as a prisoner sailing to Italy. A journey wrought with troubles and disaster, but also with good glory to God. You see, it was another example of God taking a bad situation and using it for good and His glory. In verses 10-11 Paul, a prisoner, warned of impending trouble with a storm, and the Centurion would not listen. ¹⁰"Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." ¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.”

Then, as Paul had warned, the storm showed up. “¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”

After many days of the storm, Paul addressed the people again, this time clearly telling them that God had told him through an angel of what would happen. “²¹After the men 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. ²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴and 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.' ²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

Then the storm raged on and the men were getting afraid and hopeless. “³⁰In 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. ³¹Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.” This time the centurion listened to Paul, a prisoner, for Paul brought the hope of God.

Next, Paul, a prisoner, took the lead and used the situation to spread the word of God and give God glory and thanks, while bringing more hope to them all. “³³Just 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. ³⁴Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." ³⁵After 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. ³⁶They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.”

Finally, salvation was in sight, land was close as Paul had said, but “⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.”

You see this entire story was an example of how God can take a bad situation and turn it into good for His glory. A lowly prisoner offered advice based upon the will of God and no one listened. Then, because no one listened to the warning from God, trouble arose, but there were further opportunities to seek salvation by turning around and seeking the will of God, just as the centurion did through Paul, especially in the end by sparing Paul’s life. Even though the centurion was in command, he still knew that the situation was beyond his control, he knew he should have listened to the warnings, but didn’t. However, instead of following his earthly pride and command, he relented to Paul, the lowly prisoner but also the messenger of God, and because he turned, his life was spared.

We face the same trials in life. We get warnings from God either directly, through leaders, or even through unexpected places (like a “lowly prisoner”) and we have the opportunity to listen and avoid trouble or ignore the warnings and suffer the consequences; however, because God loves us dearly, He gives us second chances. As you notice, in the story, the storm didn’t stop immediately, it was a consequence of ignoring God’s warning, BUT God did give a way out IF you will listen and turn to Him.

Some of us are facing that exact situation right now, and I say to us all, turn to God. Satan will tell you that you already messed up, that it’s too late, but Satan is a liar. God gave the soldiers and centurions another chance in the midst of the storm, and God will give us the same, but we must turn NOW and seek His will. It may not stop the troubles immediately, but it will keep them from getting worse, just as in the verses today. My prayer is that God will be with you during whatever you are facing and that you will take the opportunity to let Him shine to you and through you in this time of trouble; for God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.