Captain Obvious

I selected the daily Bible reading for today from the American Bible Society, and this is what I found.

ACTS 27:1-38 (GNT)

Paul is sent to Rome so that his case can be heard by the Emperor. Paul is put aboard a ship with other prisoners. 

1When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to Julius, an officer in the Roman army regiment called “The Emperor's Regiment.” 2We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium, which was ready to leave for the seaports of the province of Asia, and we sailed away. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3The next day we arrived at Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul and allowed him to go and see his friends, to be given what he needed. 4We went on from there, and because the winds were blowing against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of the island of Cyprus. 5We crossed over the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia and came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was going to sail for Italy, so he put us aboard.

7We sailed slowly for several days and with great difficulty finally arrived off the town of Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed down the sheltered side of the island of Crete, passing by Cape Salmone. 8We kept close to the coast and with great difficulty came to a place called Safe Harbors, not far from the town of Lasea.

9We spent a long time there, until it became dangerous to continue the voyage, for by now the Day of Atonement was already past. So Paul gave them this advice: 10“Men, I see that our voyage from here on will be dangerous; there will be great damage to the cargo and to the ship, and loss of life as well.” 11But the army officer was convinced by what the captain and the owner of the ship said, and not by what Paul said. 12The harbor was not a good one to spend the winter in; so almost everyone was in favor of putting out to sea and trying to reach Phoenix, if possible, in order to spend the winter there. Phoenix is a harbor in Crete that faces southwest and northwest.

13A soft wind from the south began to blow, and the men thought that they could carry out their plan, so they pulled up the anchor and sailed as close as possible along the coast of Crete. 14But soon a very strong wind—the one called “Northeaster”—blew down from the island. 15It hit the ship, and since it was impossible to keep the ship headed into the wind, we gave up trying and let it be carried along by the wind. 16We got some shelter when we passed to the south of the little island of Cauda. There, with some difficulty we managed to make the ship's boat secure. 17They pulled it aboard and then fastened some ropes tight around the ship. They were afraid that they might run into the sandbanks off the coast of Libya, so they lowered the sail and let the ship be carried by the wind. 18The violent storm continued, so on the next day they began to throw some of the ship's cargo overboard, 19and on the following day they threw part of the ship's equipment overboard. 20For many days we could not see the sun or the stars, and the wind kept on blowing very hard. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21After everyone had gone a long time without food, Paul stood before them and said, “You should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete; then we would have avoided all this damage and loss. 22But now I beg you, take courage! Not one of you will lose your life; only the ship will be lost. 23For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me 24and said, ‘Don't be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the Emperor. And God in his goodness to you has spared the lives of all those who are sailing with you.’ 25So take courage, men! For I trust in God that it will be just as I was told. 26But we will be driven ashore on some island.”

27It was the fourteenth night, and we were being driven in the Mediterranean by the storm. About midnight the sailors suspected that we were getting close to land. 28So they dropped a line with a weight tied to it and found that the water was one hundred and twenty feet deep; a little later they did the same and found that it was ninety feet deep. 29They were afraid that the ship would go on the rocks, so they lowered four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight. 30Then the sailors tried to escape from the ship; they lowered the boat into the water and pretended that they were going to put out some anchors from the front of the ship. 31But Paul said to the army officer and soldiers, “If the sailors don't stay on board, you have no hope of being saved.” 32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the boat and let it go.

33Just before dawn, Paul begged them all to eat some food: “You have been waiting for fourteen days now, and all this time you have not eaten a thing. 34I beg you, then, eat some food; you need it in order to survive. Not even a hair of your heads will be lost.” 35After saying this, Paul took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, broke it, and began to eat. 36They took courage, and every one of them also ate some food. 37There was a total of 276 of us on board. 38After everyone had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing all the wheat into the sea.

REFLECTion

     I am a fan of the "Captain Obvious" commercials for Hotels.com. Perhaps this is because I have been given the same title at times. It is both funny and reasonable to state the obvious. As a minister of the Gospel, it is a spiritual discipline to keep in mind what is the obvious path or the reasonable conclusion. (How else can you recognize a miracle or divine activity?!) This, of course, can also lead to some interpersonal frustrations or sarcasm.

     Considering this Bible story for today, Paul speaks into the tension between obvious and mysterious. Only God could see where and how they were traveling. Danger seemed to be everywhere. Yet, there was a obvious and clear path. It is terribly frightening and inspiring to realize that you are in the hands of God and everything around you is falling apart. Trusting and keeping faith in the midst of a strong storm (literal and figurative) can be incredibly difficult. I pray that this reading gives us guidance to hold fast when God gives us clear and obvious directions. When God is piloting, we will not get lost.

PRAY

Jesus, Savior pilot me, guide me in the path that I should go. Be with all those who are working and traveling,... Help and continue to give signals and guidance for those that are lost and need to find their way. Use me in whatever way you see fit to be a light for those in darkness. Shelter and keep watch over us all. In your everlasting Name, we pray. Amen.