Treacherous Winds

Treacherous Winds

Acts 27:13-14

Paul was now on board ship as a prisoner ticketed for Rome. The ship had arrived at a place called The Fair Havens. Paul counseled the centurion to winter there. But on a day "when the south wind blew softly," they weighed anchor and set sail. Often a season of bad weather is preceded by a day that seems especially fair. Similar times occur when worldly-minded people are led to launch their lives on a course that seems sure to lead to fame and fortune.

Those in charge of Paul's ship sought to sail close to the shore of Crete to play it safe. This too is a pattern often followed by those of world-ward disposition. None take the path that leads to hell as a voluntary choice. C. S. Lewis has said, "It does not matter how small the sins are, provided their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light into Nothing. Murder is no better than cards, if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest way to hell is the gradual one."

Everyone knows a fair, warm day may precede a stormy blast. The ship had not gone far until there arose a tempestuous wind. Fearing that ever-present peril of sailing near shore, Luke records that they lowered the sails "and so were driven." The ship was at the mercy of the raging sea. How many have sailed from the fair haven when the south wind blew softly and have been caught in the merciless storm, driven beyond control!