Acts 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
God Rules the Wind
Have you ever been on a bumpy flight? Few things can be more miserable and nerve-wracking than being on a flight that feels totally out of control. You might think, “Maybe I’ll take a boat next time,” but you may find yourself in the same trouble there. The only way to avoid all risk is to avoid travel and to stay home in bed. But that is not the way we ought to live life!
Acts 27 is all about powerful, unyielding, arbitrary, cruel wind. Do you remember flying a kite as a kid when the wind would just not cooperate? You thought, “What can I do? I can’t even see the wind. It is so massive, powerful, impersonal, and unyielding.” As I ride the ski lift when I go skiing, and I am hanging between the ski lift and the ground, the wind often whips up and just cuts me to the bone. There is nowhere to go and nothing I can do. That wind just feels unyielding and cruel.
Acts 27 is also about Paul’s journey to Rome, Italy. He was on trial, and he had appealed to Caesar. So, to Caesar he would go. Verse 4 says, “The winds were contrary.” They were sailing, so wind was everything to their journey. Maybe you feel that way, like you are heading into a headwind all the time, like you are trying to do something and the wind just seems to be pushing against you.
Verse 7 describes the wind as slow and unyielding. It wouldn’t allow them to do what they wanted to do. Maybe you are at a point in your life where things are going slowly. You wish they would speed up, but they just won’t.
Verse 13 talks about a soft wind, and maybe you have a soft wind right now, a gentle tailwind. But verse 14 says, “But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.” Maybe you are in tempestuous wind. It is so bad and vicious that it has a personality and a name. The Bible goes on to say that Paul’s ship was driven and tossed by this wind, and eventually all hope was taken away. All hope was lost, but not for Paul! Paul knew that God rules the wind.
I don’t know where you may be in life right now. Maybe life is going too slowly or too fast. Maybe it is stormy and you are frightened. Maybe you are impatient or frustrated by the unyielding nature of life. Remember, God rules the wind. Sometimes we can endure things if we know there is a purpose and a reason, but sometimes life seems devoid of purpose or reason. That can be hard to bear. Maybe that is where you are.
Nonetheless, God rules the wind. In verses 22-24 Paul says, “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar.” Then he says in verse 25, “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God.” Be of good cheer! Paul said, “This trip, our possessions, and our schedule belong to God. I serve and belong to God, so this storm and trouble belong to God. Fear not, and be of good cheer for I believe God.”
Years before, when the disciples were in a stormy sea in a boat with the Lord Jesus, He told them “We are going to the other side.” Whenever Jesus says, “We are going to the other side,” no matter the storm in the middle, the other side is exactly where you will go.
Now you and I don’t know the future, and that can be a cause for frayed nerves. But remember that as arbitrary, unyielding, and powerful as life may seem at times, there is a God. He rules that wind. When the disciples were in that storm, they were fearful of the storm, and then they feared the One Who could calm the storm. Friend, the God you serve is greater than the storm you fight right now. God rules the wind. Be of good cheer and trust God.