Paul and some other prisoners were put in the charge of a centurion named Julius for the long voyage by sea to Rome. He treated Paul kindly at Sidon, their first stop, “and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.” At first the ship sailed along the coast. At Myra they transferred to a wheat carrier ship from Alexandria headed across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. Because it was autumn and the beginning of hurricane season, Paul warned them to winter at Fair Havens, a small harbor on the south of Crete. But “when the south wind blew softly,” the majority wanted to press on to Phoenix, a better harbor to winter in.

This proved disastrous to the cargo and tackle and, after two weeks of being blown about by the hurricane, to the ship also. When all hope of survival was given up, Paul stood up and boldly told them the message he had received from God, whose he was and whom he served. At dawn he encouraged them to eat, gave thanks before all, and himself ate. Soon afterward, they ran the ship aground. As it broke up, some swam to shore while others clung to boards or pieces of the ship, but all 276 persons escaped safely to land on the island now known as Malta. God is faithful!

Let us be faithful and fearless to confess our Lord even in the direst circumstances of life! The world rejected our Lord and it does not want us or our counsel either. Yet how often since then has God also kept scores or even hundreds of people from harm or death because of one or more of His own who were among them.