Summer At Sea: Week 13 Day 5
ACTS 28:11-16
11 After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figure head of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 16 When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
S.O.S.! This acronym has been used countless times in modern history, often in popular culture, especially in movies. I imagine that this acronym has been spelled out by people in real life on deserted islands or other remote locations too. I’ve never been stranded for a long time on an island or anywhere else where I needed an emergency response or some kind of human intervention.
The Apostle Paul and his companions, however, were stuck on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea around 60 A.D. due to a severe storm that blew them off course on their journey to Rome as winter approached; they endured three months of it! Earlier parts of the story, however, revealed that God had richly provided everything that the travelers needed while on the island and enabled Paul to perform several miracles while ministering to the local people.
Regardless of any situation he was in, Paul seemed most concerned with sharing the Gospel and encouraging people he interacted with, both Christians and unbelievers, to repent of their sins and be saved. He was apparently so well known in the Roman world that many Christians came from far and near, in Sicily and Italy, to hear him when he finally arrived at Rome. Acts 28:15 states: “At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.”
Whether your life is going along well or you are enduring a traumatic ordeal like Paul, do you thank God? Do you share the good things He has done in your life with others? Do you encourage those who are stuck on a “deserted island?”