Nor’easter

This blog is a continuation of Northeaster that was written last year, God gave me new revelations as I meditated on this word again. Before we dig deep, a small context, Paul completed his ministry in Ephesus (where he stayed for more than 2.5 Yrs) and based on the will of God he goes to Jerusalem and there he is arrested and he is in trial before the Sanhedrin / Felix / King Agrippa, Since Paul was a roman citizen who had appealed to Caesar, he is being sent to Rome from Jerusalem by King Agrippa. Historians say it took 3 months for him to travel from Jerusalem to Rome

The entire book of Acts 27 gives a clear view of his travel to Rome. On outset, Acts 27 comes across as a story for us when you read the bible, but there are many things to learn that can help us in our spiritual matters

Few events to note on Paul’s travel

1. Paul was accompanied by “Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us”. What a love that people had for Paul that Aristarchus wanted to travel to Rome along with Paul.

2. Day of Atonement - this refers to the time period of Sept to Nov where they were travelling and usually a dangerous time to travel by sea. 'Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, ' Acts 27:9

3. Paul warns the Centurion not to travel based on the revelation from holy spirit '“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ' Acts 27:10-11

4. Nor’Easter - Ship was caught in a storm Northeaster, today we use this Nor’easter as synonym for big mega storms which we face. 'Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. Acts 27:14

5. Misery of the storm is explained verse 18 to 20 they were tossed and thrown around the ship and they hung to ropes to save their lives, the entire place was dark for many days, just for a moment imagine how it would be for some one to be in a storm hanging with rope for many days not knowing what would happen next. What would the be Centurion thinking. 'We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. ' Acts 27:18-20

6. In this deep low point, we read they were in dark for many days without food and they were weak, Paul is also in the same situation but he stood up with a word of encouragement and gives some Prophesy 'After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” ' Acts 27:21-26

The Question that I had was, Paul also was in the same storm like others, where did Paul get his comfort from in the midst of the storm ? why was he different from the rest of the people ?

God gave me answers which we can learn to apply in our lives, we also face many difficulties in life, we may not go thru worst storms like Paul, but each storm we go thru is a nor’easter in each one of us, that we should learn from Paul

Dependence of God - “the God to whom I belong and whom I serve”

'Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me ' Acts 27:23

• Notice this great statement by Paul, “God . . . to whom I belong and whom I serve.” This statement comes as a affirmation of the faith that Paul had with God

  • Paul belonged to God because he believed from his heart and mind that Jesus had bought him with his own blood and he died for his sins.

  • Paul did not choose God, God chose Paul (Saul was later called as Paul) when Jesus Spoke to him in Damascus when he was persecuting christians “Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me ?.. I am Jesus whom you are persecuting ..” Acts 9:4-5

  • His belief was so strong that he is owned by God and he did not own himself - the attitude of Slave to Jesus. Without that he would not be able to say “God.. to whom I belong and whom I serve”

• He was dependent on God in the storm instead of depending on himself, Whereas others were depending on their own strength and the ropes that they were clinging onto.

• Paul followed and obeyed the will of God that he will need to go to Rome, he knew nothing can change that, The storm nor’easter was no match to the will of God. 'The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” ' Acts 23:11

• Under pressure, Paul had Christ with him and he had the assurance of victory in death and the promise that all would work out for good. The Other sailors worshiped pagan gods (God’s of Zeus and Jupiter) who could not help them, but Christ gave Paul the power to be calm and encourage these pagans. They must have been impressed with this man Paul, for they saw he was different.

Lesson we can learn

• No matter how big the storm may be (it can be nor’easter or even bigger in your life that you may go thru) depend on Jesus, He can turn a situation around as he is the creator of heaven and earth.

• When you depend on him there will be peace in midst of storm with the assurance that he will guide you.

Test of faith - “Do not be afraid, Paul”

'and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ' Acts 27:24

• Paul even though depended on God, he also was scared like others, else the angels wouldn’t have greeted Paul “Do not be afraid”

• So in faith it’s common to have fears. Satan tricks us to believe there is no one and we are left alone and these fears can make us feel we are fighting the battle alone. What Paul did was he prayed in the midst of storm / midst of fears he reached to Jesus as his dependence was on God.

• One of Paul's secrets to having a different kind and quality of life was that he was a man of prayer. What power is at the disposal of a Christian who learns to pray.

• God answers to us only if we pray, he will not reveal to us unless we call on him, in this case Paul prayed and he gets the word from God ”God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you”

Lesson we can learn

• It’s common to have fears when we are in a storm. Don’t confuse fear as an act of unbelief , don’t get in trap of satan with Fear.

• In fears reach to Jesus and pray.

• Prayer is the key antidote in removing the fear and getting the spirit of boldness from God.he reveals his message to us thru his word. In Paul’s case he sent an angel to talk to him. God chooses different means to talk to each of our situation, its his calling how he will do, for some it will be thru the word, for some it will be thru the pastor, for some it will be thru a well-wisher / friend / family member, for some he will reveal it with spirit of revelation.

Reaffirm Faith

'So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 'Acts 27:25

• Paul’s proclaiming faith in the middle of a storm is a true testimony to the definition of faith 'Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 'Hebrews 11:1

• Paul again staked his whole reputation on God's promise. This is a tremendous definition of faith. Here what Paul did was he took his word and and reaffirmed that “it will happen just as he told me”

• Faith is the assurance that God will perform his promises to the Christian who truly believes them.

• Paul, the man of faith, who encouraged these non-Christians to continue on. Paul was operating on faith in the living Christ and this encouraged others who were not saved / discouraged / despondent to follow Paul. Because of his faith, he was able to change the attitudes of 275 people so they could eat and be prepared for the rigours ahead of them. 'After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. ' Acts 27:35-38

Lesson we can learn

• Proclaiming Faith in midst of Storm gives Faith the real meaning of Christ living in us. It tells God that we are trusting him even though we don’t know what we will do, but as you say we reaffirm the faith in him that he will lead us thru the storm

• Hold on to his word as you go thru the stormy situation - Paul did the same “God that it will happen just as he told me.” Many times we forget God’s word in storm as we are carried away from his promises and focus on the problem alone.

• Replay the promise (many times he speaks thru the Bible, promise he gives you in the situation) in your mind / heart / mouth. Confess the promise repeatedly when you are in middle of storm, when you do this you are telling the enemy about your faith in Jesus. The enemy gets shivers when he sees God’s people use the word of God in middle of storm.

God is always true to his promise

We read the promise from God to Paul was God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ' Acts 27:24

The promise was full-filled “In this way everyone reached land safely.'”

'The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.' Acts 27:44

• God promised Paul that all who were on the ship would be spared, not a single one of them would lose his life. This was God's sovereign promise and it could not be broken. Yet, in this verse all had to stay on the ship to be saved.

• This is a perfect illustration of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Both are taught in Scripture. God's sovereignty includes man's responsibility. Man's actions are the means whereby God works out His plans.