THE LIVING CHURCH
Meditations in the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 27:1-12

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THE journey to Rome for Paul begins. He is handed over to a Roman army officer with other prisoners, and they set sail on their journey. The story of the journey tells of the difficulties and dangers of sea travel in those days, and the fact that the journey was embarked upon at the worst time of year. What comes through in this narrative is the sense which Paul constantly had that he was in the hands of God, and whatever the troubles and difficulties he had to face, God was leading and protecting him - verses 9-12. Paul is in constant communion with God. We see the same thing later in the journey.

Let us see how God's care and provision for his people is demonstrated in the experience of Paul in verse 3. Julius, the Roman officer, is kind to Paul and allows Paul to go and see his friends, so that he may have his needs supplied. We may say that this a very small thing, but would we expect a prisoner to be allowed such freedom. The centurion did not know Paul personally. He had no evidence that he could trust him not to escape, when he gave such freedom. We may say that Julius was a particularly kind man, but then the question is raised as to why such a kind man was in charge of the prisoners on this occasion.

Human wisdom puts all this down to chance. It must be a coincidence. Some are fortunate, but some are not - it is just a matter of fortune, some have good fortune and some have bad. Paul certainly would not have thought like this, and no Christian should think like this. We believe that we are in the hands of God, and Christ as our Shepherd is guiding us and keeping us throughout life. Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that "All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose." We are being protected, guided and watched over by the Lord all the time. He is working his purposes out for us, and his love surrounds us even when his purposes are dangerous and difficult.

To the eye of unbelief this is all wishful thinking. There seems no grounds for such faith in the eyes of the world. However with the eye of faith, and experience in being Christ's disciples, we do not believe in coincidence, but in the hand of God in our lives. To the eye of faith the narrative of Paul's journey to Rome speaks loudly of God's hand preserving Paul and upholding him, so that he may reach Rome safely to fulfil God's purpose there.

The other matter of note in the verses before us is where Paul went to the Roman centurion and told him that the journey was going to be a disaster unless they stayed for the winter at Fair Havens. This was not a very good place to spend the winter (v.12). We read that the centurion listened to the owner and the pilot of the ship, rather than Paul.

When difficult decisions have to be made, it is important to make sure that our choice of action is based on pure motives, and with the concern to do the will of God. The centurion took the advice of worldly wisdom rather than spiritual wisdom. The worldly wisdom was tainted by impure motives. The owner of the ship was governed by motives of profit. The pilot was motivated, no doubt, in pleasing the owner of the ship, and so keeping his employment. Thus their choice of action was not made in an impartial spirit.

It is true that these men had no way of knowing whether they could trust the wisdom of Paul, but they would have been better able to judge the wisest actions, if their decision making had not been corrupted by worldly and unworthy motives. In the Christian life, we must be careful first that we have this supreme desire to do the will of God and please him first.

Having said this, there is still the difficulty of knowing what is the right decision to make in any problem that is before us. We will only hear God clearly when we have silenced all the conflicting voices within and without us. We need to silence the inner voice of personal desire, and the inner voice of vested interest or disinclination. Then we must silence the voices outside us of worldly motives and goals. For example, when we are thinking of action within a church fellowship, it is very easy to be governed in our choices by the worldly desire for success to boost our pride. It is very easy to resort to worldly means to raise money for a project, rather than to trust God to move his people to give. It is an easier option to look at a project from a worldly perspective, and say that there is no possibility for it to be achieved.

We will only hear God's way, and know his guidance, if our hearts and minds are severed from all worldly motives and thoughts, and our inner desires our subdued by an overwhelming sense of love to God because of his great love to us.