Impending Disaster

IMPENDING DISASTER

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. . . .

The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs. Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland. Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.

We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

“Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.

This first segment of Paul’s journey from Caesarea to Rome is difficult to read because of the looming danger we feel in Luke’s words. The winds were high, it was nearly winter, progress was slow, and Paul himself warned of an impending disaster. He had experienced three shipwrecks before this (see 2 Corinthians 11:25), so he knew how hard that things could get. How must he have prepared his heart for what was coming?

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• Reflect on a time when disaster was looming and you had no ability to stop it. How did you prepare yourself? How would you prepare yourself differently today if faced with a similar problem?
• Who in your life is facing an impending storm (a death, a job or home loss, a divorce, a surgery)? How can you care for and encourage them in advance of that storm? What would serve them?

Father, I pray for your provision in and protection from impending storms. In your mercy and love, spare me and fill me with hope. Surround me with what I need in order to weather whatever might come and to remember your promises. May I be someone who draws close to those who have hard times ahead. Show me who will need a friend to walk with, and give me the strength and stamina to be that friend. Amen.