27 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.[a] So Paul warned them, 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.” 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
-Acts 27:1-12
Are you good at listening to godly advice even when it’s difficult to hear? The Apostle Paul is giving the sailors some advice about the dangers facing the ship, but the sailors decided to ignore Paul’s advice. In the end, the ship was wrecked.
Having the humility to listen and to follow godly advice is a trademark of a wise Christian. There have been numerous times when I’ve received really difficult advice—suggestions that I need to end an ungodly relationship, a personality trait that I need to work on or fix, or a tough ministry decision that has no good outcomes. Listening to hard advice can be tortuous, but those are also the moments when I grew the most as a Christian. These situations stretched my faith and challenged me to be more like Jesus.
What are some difficult godly advice that have been given to you? Are you listening to them and incorporating them into your life or are you ignoring them to our own peril?
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