Day 191

1 Chronicles 9:1–10:14; Acts 27:21-44; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 18:23-24

IN ACTS TODAY, 276 souls had been adrift on a stormy sea for two full weeks. They could not navigate because they couldn’t see the sky, but even if they could have, the storm was carrying them where it willed. Paul reminded the people that had they heeded his warning, they could have avoided the harrowing experience. But he also had good news:

None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, “Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.” So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. But we will be shipwrecked on an island.

Soon they perceived land, but they could not see it through the darkness. They lowered anchors to slow the ship’s progress while they awaited daylight. The sailors in charge of the vessel attempted to abandon ship using the lifeboats, but Paul sternly warned that if they left, every life would be lost. The commanders listened this time and cut the ropes.

Due to terror, the passengers and crew had not eaten for fourteen days, but as dawn began to break, Paul encouraged everyone to eat because they were going to need the strength to get to shore. This turned out to be very wise advice. The light of day illuminated a shoreline that no one recognized. As the sailors aimed the ship toward an inlet, it caught a shoal, and the force of the angry sea began to tear the ship apart. Everyone was forced overboard, but all arrived alive on land —though they had no idea where they were.

The clear faith of Paul brought a resolute calm amid the storm, which influenced the ocean-weary sailors, the terrified passengers, and the battle-tested soldiers alike.

When we face the unnerving disorientation of life’s choppy seas, we certainly have the example of Paul, but our reading from Psalms today is worth committing to memory, for it orients us to a reality much larger than any hardship:

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers —the moon and the stars you set in place —what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.

God made us and crowned us with glory and honor, which means He knows who we are and wants to be in a collaborative relationship with us. Whether you’re in a storm of circumstance or one of your own creation, orienting your heart to Psalm 8 is like a long exhale of stress and deep inhale of clarity and grace. Read it again and open your heart to its truth.

WORSHIP:

O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!