Daily Discovery 22nd April 2020 Devotional – Heading For Rome
TODAY’S TOPIC: HEADING FOR ROME
Opening Prayer: I praise You, Jesus, that though I may not know what the future holds, I know who holds the future.
Read Acts 27:1–12
Paul Sails for Rome
27 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.
2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.
4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.
6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
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Daily Discovery 22nd April 2020 Devotional
9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.[a] So Paul warned them,
10 “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.”
11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.
12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
Footnotes:
a Acts 27:9 That is, Yom Kippur
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwida e.
Reflect – Daily Discovery 22nd April 2020 Devotional
Have you ever discovered later that God had already provided for you?
Two years after the Lord told Paul that he would go to Rome (23:11), he is finally on his way. But now he’s a prisoner (1), although with possibly 80 Roman soldiers for protection! Friends are there too: Luke (who says “we” in verse 1) and Aristarchus from Thessalonica (2). Paul and he had previously traveled together to Ephesus (19:29) and Jerusalem (Acts 20:16).
What a journey it was! With no ship direct to Italy, they had to split the journey. The first ship sailed close to the shore as far as Myra in Turkey. But the next one had to sail across open water and the winds were against them (7). By the time they got to Fair Havens in Crete (8) they had been traveling for almost seven weeks. A big decision faced them. It was October and sailing was dangerous (9). From November to March, Mediterranean shipping stopped altogether.
Although Paul wasn’t a sailor, he did have experience of sailing and shipwrecks (2 Cor. 11:25). But despite his warning (10), the crew decided to press on. They wanted somewhere with a better wintering option. Nevertheless, Paul knew something of God’s overriding plan. Sometimes we simply have to trust God in the fog.
Apply: How do you see your future? If there are things you are troubled about, bring them to God now. Choose to seek God first rather than leaning on your own devices.
Closing Prayer: God, I want to trust You more. Teach me how to lean on You for guidance and direction.
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