In the middle of the storm

This is a stormy story. And a story of calm in the storm. Let’s jump right into the middle of the story:

“Therefore be of good cheer, you men! For I trust God that it will be as has been spoken to me.”
Acts 27:25 Rev. Elbf.

When Paul speaks these words, all is not well with Him and all the other travelers. He is on his way to Rome as a prisoner. The last port was in Crete and the apostle had warned the captain not to sail before winter. The weather would be too bad. The ship sailed anyway, and Paul, the prisoner who was to appear before the emperor (Acts 25:12), had to go along. “But not long afterward there arose from thence a tempest called Eurakylon “ (Acts 27:14). The storm raged for days. All luggage has already been thrown overboard. The food had run out. The situation became dramatic.

“And when they had been long without food, Paul stood up in their midst, and said, Men! I should certainly have been obeyed and not left Crete and avoided this misfortune and damage. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for none of you will be lost, only the ship. For an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood by me that night and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must be placed before Caesar; and behold, God has given you all who go with you. Therefore, be of good cheer, you men! For I trust God that it will be as has been spoken to me. However, we must be displaced to some island.”
Acts 27:21-26 Rev. Elbf.

Reading this, one thing is clear: Paul is not concerned with pious platitudes. He is not speaking from a comfortable situation that makes it seem easy to speak such words. On the contrary – he and everyone else on the ship fear for their lives. There are seasoned sailors, soldiers of the Roman emperor carrying Paul and other prisoners, and probably other travelers. There were a total of 276 people on the ship (Acts 27:37). It must have been a stately ship.

As a prisoner, Paul was in no position to determine anything. He had no authority to do so. Nor was he a sailor who could help with experience. So it’s all the more remarkable that he stands up and says (casually), “Listen up, everyone – I’m confident it’s going to be okay!”

No one on board was to perish (gr. apobole, to throw away/discard). But how could Paul have known this? The apostle explains it this way: “For an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood by me that night and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must be placed before Caesar; and behold, God has given you all who go with you.” So the certainty did not come from Paul himself. Nor did it come from the angel, but the angel merely delivered a message. The message was from God: you must be brought before Caesar; and behold, God has given you all who go with you. This is now what Paul is referring to.

“Therefore be of good cheer, you men! For I trust God that it will be as has been spoken to me.” Paul sees his life carried by God. Him he trusts.

I believe God

Instead of “I trust God” you could also write “I believe God”. The Greek pisteuo does not distinguish here. The two words “believe” and “trust” are identical in Greek; faith and trust are one and the same. Thus, it can also be translated, “For I believe God that it will happen in the way that was promised to me” (Concordant New Testament). Here it even sounds a bit more confident. This is about trusting God in the best sense of the word.

Paul is not talking about “believing in God,” but “believing God.” There is an important difference. Perhaps this is already apparent when reading this comparison? Many people believe in God. They assume that He exists, that He exists. It often doesn’t go much further than that. But it is different with the expression “I believe God”. Believe God. Paul believes what God says. So it says: “For I believe God that it will happen in the way that was promised to me” . He trusts that God’s promise will come true. He trusts in His Word. He trusts and believes Him, as we know the expression to “trust someone on their word.”

In the final analysis, the Bible is not about us “believing in one God” – although that is a good starting point! -but that we believe Him ourselves, that we trust in His Word (by this I do not mean the Bible, but rather the proclamation). Because there’s more in it. He makes a statement, we can respond to it. Abraham also did this when he trusted God’s promise. “Abraham believed God, and this was counted to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6 Rom 4:3 Gal 3:6 Jas 2:23).

Whoever trusts God enters into a relationship. In a letter to his co-worker Timothy, he writes: “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is mighty to keep that which has been entrusted to me until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12).

When we trust God and believe His Word, it is never to be confused with any religious views. Paul did not say that he knew what he believed, but whom he believed. It’s not about “things,” not about “special effects,” not about a particular church or community. After all, it is not a miracle faith, not a dogmatic faith, not a blind faith. It is about trusting Him and His promises and taking them seriously. This is something to build on. If it is God’s word, then the word comes from Him. To the Thessalonians Paul writes:

“Therefore we also thank God continually, that when ye received from us the word of the knowledge of God, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is truly), as the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.”
1Thess 2,13

Confidence

Back to the first story. Back to the storm. Now Paul is standing there on the ship. He recounts this experience with the angel the night before. He tells of the confidence he has, of the trust in God’s promise: As God has said, so it will be. We do not know exactly how many days have already been held out in the storm. They themselves no longer knew, since because of the severe storm “neither the sun nor the stars appeared for several days” (Acts 27:20). Sometime after Paul’s statement, the fourteenth (recognizable) night came (Acts 27:33). The following morning the ship was wrecked on the coast of the island of Melita, today’s Malta (perhaps this was at “Saint Paul’s Bay”). Everyone on the ship escaped with their lives according to God’s promise.

Paul was not spared the storm. He did not have much in his hands. However, he saw his life as being in God’s hands. He entrusted himself to Him. He trusted and believed His promises. These are examples and lessons that can be applied to our lives as well.

Deepening

The travels of Paul

Questions for the conversation

  • Do you understand “faith” as “trust”?
  • “Faith is the confident acceptance of what is expected, a convincing of facts not glimpsed. For in this faith good things were witnessed to the elders. By faith we understand…” (Heb 11:1-3 KNT). Describe in your own words what is being said here.
  • Jesus and the disciples were once in a storm on the lake. His word was enough for the storm to subside (Mark 4:35-41). Do you see parallels and differences with the story in Acts 27?
  • Believing God, how do you do that?
  • In 1Th 2:13, Paul mentions that God’s word “proves effective in us who believe.” Discuss.
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