Sunday, December 17, 2023
[As the ship that carried Paul as a prisoner bound for Rome was caught in a storm, he placed his faith in the Lord and called for those around him to have faith they would be saved from their predicament.] About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near. They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep. At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.
Notice that Paul and his companions were now two weeks into the storm that threatened everyone's life onboard their ship. Thankfully, the sailors still had their sailing wits about them — "the sailors sensed land was near" — so they checked the depth and took precautions. However, the statement that grabs my heart and speaks to my waking nightmares is that they "prayed for daylight." I don't know about you, but one of the most comforting phrases in Scripture speaks a promise to those of us who reach for God in our deepest darkness:
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
(Psalm 30:5)*
I remember the confession to God by King David:
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
(Psalm 139:12)
No matter the darkness that engulfs us, God is still our deliverer!
* See the context of this statement in the first of our Related Scripture Readings and see how appropriate it is for Paul's situation.
Great deliver, my light-bringer in my darkness, thank you for never leaving or forsaking me. I trust that you will never abandon or forsake me. I reach to you, I call to you, and I lean on you and trust that you will always be my light in both the brightest of days and the deepest of darkness. Thank you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
![Illustration of Acts 27:27-29 NLT — [As the ship that carried Paul as a prisoner bound for Rome was caught in a storm, he placed his faith in the Lord and called for those around him to have faith they would be saved from their predicament.] About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near. They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep. At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.](https://img.heartlight.org/overlazy/creations/24600.jpg "Illustration of Acts 27:27-29 NLT — [As the ship that carried Paul as a prisoner bound for Rome was caught in a storm, he placed his faith in the Lord and called for those around him to have faith they would be saved from their predicament.] About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near. They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep. At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.")
Unstoppable! is a one-year devotional guide through the book of Acts. Each devotional consists of a scripture passage, a reflection and a prayer. The reflection opens up the day's scripture and shows how it challenges one to live for Jesus.
Unstoppable! is written by Phil Ware.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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