Acts 27:39-44 (NIV)
When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they 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. But 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.
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But 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. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.
In a very few concise verses, Luke details the entire shipwreck. The first rays of the sun showed the land that the sailors had been sensing was very near. The sailors couldn’t identify the land, but saw a bay with a broad, sandy shore, and formulated a plan. If they hoisted the sails and let the wind drive them onto the shore, they could possibly save the ship and get everyone ashore safely.
The wind was blowing strongly toward land, but no one knew how long that would last. So, they didn’t waste time hoisting the four anchors aboard. They simply raised the sails to the wind and cut the anchor ropes, leaving the lead weights on the bottom of the sea.
The ship shot forward at an impressive rate with the sails full of wind. But they hadn’t gone too far before they hit an underwater sand bar, which stopped their movement so suddenly that everyone on board was nearly knocked off their feet.
The ship was stuck fast, and no more progress could be made no matter what the sailors tried. It soon became apparent that the powerful, wind-driven waves were starting to break up the stern of the ship, meaning that everyone had to leave the ship and get to shore immediately.
The soldiers were responsible for the many prisoners that were on the ship. If even one of them escaped, their own lives would be forfeit. Rather than risk an escape in this mayhem, they decided that the best course of action would be to execute the whole group of prisoners at once, a solution that would satisfy their superiors. But Julius the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life, so he ordered that they not do that, but focus on getting everyone ashore safely.
Those who could swim were ordered to jump into the cold water and make for shore, but were sternly warned that they were to wait there until everyone could be accounted for. Those who couldn’t swim were told to hold on to pieces of the rapidly disintegrating ship and use them to stay afloat while they paddled to shore.
A short time later, the whole company assembled on the shore of the bay, and the soldiers counted. Soon they found that all 276 of the people on board had made it safely to shore, exactly fulfilling God’s prophecy spoken by Paul (Acts 27:24, 34).
Father, You often tell us what You are doing if we just listen, as well as the end result You are aiming for. But far too often, we don’t pause long enough to find out HOW you are planning to accomplish Your goal, and what our part in Your plan my be. We start running off on our own and sometimes end up getting in Your way, as the soldiers surely would have done if Julius had not stopped them. Help us all, Lord, to pause and listen, so that we don’t just find out the “what” of Your plans, but so that You can share with us the “how” as well. Amen.
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