Paul knew that his destiny was secure. He was walking in the path of God’s purpose and he knew that nothing would thwart this. This didn’t mean, however, that there wouldn’t be ‘storms’ along the way. At this point in the story Paul is bound for Rome, just as God had promised, and he is going to make a huge impact there. That was his destiny. But on the way he is hit by a storm, literally. As the boat was breaking up in the storm Paul pleads with the crew not to abandon ship. Paul knows that they will be okay because he is on God’s path and that cannot be thwarted. There was no need to abandon ship or anything radical like that. Paul knows that as long as these people stick with him they will be secure too. But to remain secure they must not panic and jump out of the boat. There is a profound lesson in this. If you walk with God, you will certainly get to where God is leading you. The storms that hit us in life (i.e. Matthew 7:25) will not thwart us, they will actually lead us to where we need to go, just as Paul’s storm led to the Island of Malta where many people came to faith as a result. Even when Paul was bitten by a snake, he still remained unfazed. What a way to live! When you walk with God you don’t have to worry about ‘getting there’ because God has already made the way. So, don’t ‘abandon ship’ when things get rough.
Commit yourself to God’s path and ask God to give you peace about your future.
Read Acts 27:1 – 28:10
