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.
39 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. 40 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. 41 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.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 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. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
The Bible has many stories that involve some sort of trouble on sea - some notable ones include Jesus calming the storm, Jesus walking on water, Jonah running away from Nineveh, and Paul’s shipwreck. As in all stories, and as expected when encountering a storm, many characters are afraid and fear for their lives. However, as we read here, Paul displays bravery and confidence that God will save them,, similar to Jesus’s demeanor and calmness amidst a great storm.
Even as a prisoner onboard the ship, Paul seems to command authority over the crew as all are fearful, even to the point where the sailors are willing to abandon everyone else and flee on lifeboats. However, Paul displays his confidence in God and the power/authority that comes with God’s provision by directing the crew in two ways that may not seem to make sense under a great storm. First, Paul tells the soldiers to cut the ropes to let the lifeboats drift away, not only preventing the sailors from fleeing, but also possibly getting rid of the only escape off the ship. Second, Paul tells everyone to eat to the point that they are full before they throw the rest of the grain overboard, seemingly depleting one of their food supplies.
These two orders may seem ridiculous when it comes to surviving a storm while on a ship, but to Paul, all that mattered was God’s promise of saving everyone on board. Through this promise, Paul was able to act bravely and even encourage everyone on board to have faith that they would indeed live. As a result, everyone’s lives were spared, even though the ship became wrecked. Furthermore, Paul’s life was protected by God once again as the Centurion stopped the soldiers from killing the prisoners.
There are many storms in life, and God helps us navigate them in many unique ways, some of which may seem odd. However, we are called and encouraged to have faith and trust that God will deliver, and that He may grant us his power and authority to rise out of difficult situations as we see with Paul during the shipwreck.
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