Acts 27:1-44 KJV 1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. 4 And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. 7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; 8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. 9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, 10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. 13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 16 And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: 17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. 18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; 19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. 22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. 27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; 28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. 29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. 30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. 32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. 33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. 35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. 37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. 39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. 40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. 41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. 42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. 43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: 44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.

If you ever been on a trip that foretold of danger and you went any way and prophesy of the trip came to be, most probably have not. I seen many things on journeys, but prophesy in the since of foretelling on a personal trip I have not. I can not imagine Paul fear when God spoke to his heart about the danger on the trip. I also can not imagine not being fully aware of what exactly God perhaps meant about the journey, except he knew it would come to pass. In verse ten of Acts 27, Paul is faced with prophesy of much damage to the ship, loss to the cargo of the ship and loss of life onboard. Now of course the captain not knowing Paul why should the captain believe him. Paul a man of God had experienced much in his life, from stoning, to beatings and more, yet Paul knew he could trust the Lord. It was not unusual to have faith when others might not, but the prophesy is spoke to help enable the faith of those unbelieving. This is the case in this story. It is to help the unbeliever to know the power of this God that Paul served, that warn his people and those around him. By time you get to verse 18, one begin to realize the prophecy was probably true to a point, not everything Paul said was true yet, but the (waves and wind)tempest and fear of being intangled by sand along the shore of islands(that would act like quicksand to a ship) endangering those on board lives. They would avoid many islands but would find one to land on and were able to mend the ship. Nothing to serious had happened yet, but it was warning. They also lighten the ship some of some of their cargo. Then by third day they began to remove the extra furnishing of the ship that was not main cargo of the ship. Getting rid of unnecessary equipment. Now verse 20 the next thing that happened with this storm was no one could see a thing. The sailor could not navigate with dark clouds overhead, no moon, stars or sun shown for fourteen days. No clue of knowing where they were at at this point. Now the storm was so bad, that Paul stood up and told of the vision God gave him of God standing by his bed, and speaking to him that no one would be lost, that Paul would still be going before Caesar. At this point the vision was necessary to give those on board hope after the prophesy of a storm being destructive was occuring before them. The men continued to fast, and would fast over fourteen days. At one point the sailors cast the little boat on the ship overboard and were ready to jump on the little boat but Paul told them that God would not allow one to be hurt if they remained with the ship, so they cut the little boat free. The journey through the storm seem endless no doubt after fourteen days plus without food they were fixing to cut their food supply over board, when Paul stopped them and told them to eat at least some meat for their journey ahead. As the storm raged they neared some land and even tried to put their anchor down but each time the drop down was very deep. As they headed toward the shore no doubt the boat would hit against the rocks and wreck. They ship made land fall but not without damage and not without being able to be repaired. Yet the boat was wrecked and they had to swim to shore. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, but because Paul was a prisoner, and captain decided it was best to protect Paul would not allow one prisoner to be killed. The trouble of the storm with faith does not mean you do not loose something, does not mean danger is not occuring, and does not mean one has a full belly going through it. If you have ever been around death or someone in the hospital, that is sick, family and even friends might fast. Whether fasting is because of lost of appetite in the storm, or whether it a genuine fasting and prayer for those in the storm, it matters not. God hears the prayers of the saints. No doubt Paul was praying fervently during the storm, because he knew his own demise was fast coming it he did not. He knew his demise could come because of his chains as a prisoner. Yet no doubt Paul believed God, and all the men on the ship were saved from death. God proving his power to those aboard the ship through prophesy. Where is your faith in the storms of life? Some folks believe not and just wait for things to happen. Some pray so fervently fourteen days or more in hopes for a good outcome. Yet when storms come where is your faith? Is your faith in the God that can calm the storm. Jesus fell asleep in the boat as a storm approached, only to be waken because of the fear of the disciples. He rebuke the wind and the waves and the storm ceased. Only God can remove the danger of the storm. Jesus ability and power to remove the storm is real. Paul could not remove the storm, but God wanted to take Paul through the storm, perhaps in Paul's imprisonment Paul had anxiety of going before Caesar. Maybe God knew the storm is what Paul needed as well as those on the ship. A storm removed is not the same as going through the storm. Rejoicing comes when one survives a storm. Astonishment and amazement occurs when a storm is removed. The unbelief can be healed with the miracle through the storm as well as the realization of what one has been through by the hand of God. One would rather have storms removed in life, but it does not always occur. What we know is God is either going to take you through storm if you keep your eyes on Him, or you will go floundering through the storm hoping with no faith and no assurance of everything will be alright. I rather go through a storm knowing all will be okay, with the sweet assurance of faith, yet if prophesy from God is not given, then his comfort of the Holy Spirit is for the believer in and through the storm. God desires to comfort you through the storm in life. Not all storms end as in Acts 27 with no loss of life, but they do end and a brighter tomorrow does come. As a believer we can rest in the hope and faith in Christ Jesus. Rest in the promise of his love, comfort and desires to give the desires of our hearts. Yet sometimes he takes away those things we desire for a time so the true desire is fully realized. Dear Heavenly Father, help those going through a storm today, giving them the sweet assurance of your love for them despite the storm. That they can rest in the eternity of promise as well as the hope of going through the storm knowing your plan is greater. In Jesus precious name, Amen. Continual Scripture Study for Devotion: Luke 8:22-25 KJV 22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him. http://www.turtle30cshell.com