THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Saturday, May 12 . Acts 27 : 14 - 19 .
a stormy voyage as this world presents, and the tempest is God’s call to unload (Heb. 12:1; Phil. 3 :7, 8 ; Matt. 16:20). Thé terrific storm of war and anguish that ig now sleeping over the civilized earth is God’s call to His people to unload their It was very natural when neither sun nor stars shone upon them for many days and no small tempest lay upon them, that all hope that they should be saved should be taken away, but it was entirely unneces sary. God is just as able to save in the darkness as He is in the sunshine, and in the tempest as He is in the calm. The be liever in Christ need never fear even though there is not one ray of light from sun or stars and no matter how heavy the tempest may appear to be (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:6,7). There was at least one man in that ship whose hope was not gone, for God had said to him, “Thou must bear witness at Rome also” (Ch. 23:11), and he knew that through storm or through sunshine God would somehow get him to Rome to give his testimony. Those were very manly words that Paul spoke in verse 21. They were not a mere taunt, “I told you so,” but simply a deft reference to the judiciousness of his former advice that he might gain the more respectful hearing for his present words. In the midst of the universal despair, Paul, trusting in God and His word, summoned his fear stricken com panions “to be of good cheer.” He assured them on the ground of God’s own word, that in spite of the apparent uncertainty as to the loss of their lives, not a single In that dark night an angel of God appeared to Paul: the darker and stormier the night, the likelier are the angels of God to appear if we are indeed His (cf. Ch. 18:9 ; 23:11). Sometimes they stand beside us and we do not see them because we are so taken up with the blackness and the dark- superfluous cargo. Sunday, May 17 . Acts 27 : 20 - 22 . life would be lost. Monday, May 14 . -Acts 27 : 23 , 24 .
Gentle breezes and tempestuous winds alike await the faithful servant of God (vs. 13, 14), but both come from the same hand, our Father’s hand. It is He who com- mandeth and raiseth the stormy wind (Ps. 107:25). He maketh winds His messen gers (Ps. 104:4, R. V.). Both the balmy south wind and the fierce Euroclydon furthered Paul on his course toward the Imperial City, where he was to give his testimony for his Master, and toward the New Jerusalem. The gentle breezes from the south are more pleasant but not more wholesome and useful than the wild, howl ing northern gale. We may all well thank God for that tempest, for to it we owe the precious lessons of this chapter. If it should ever be ours to face the terrors of a cyclone, let us not forget from whom it comes, and whose loying purposes it is carrying out. It was probably hard for Paul during that fourteen days’ storm to discern the wise and gentle hand of God in it, but it was there all the same, and we can see it now. It is interesting to note how, as the tempest overtook God’s faith less servant Jonah (Jon. 1:4), so also the tempest overtook His faithful servant Paul. They were both sailing the same sea, but one toward the duty to which ( God appointed him; the other away from the duty to which God appointed him. Even God’s most faithful servants will not always find smooth sailing. The child of God may always have peace within (Phil. 4:6,7; Isa. 26:3; John 16:33), but he will not always have peace without. The fact that one is being fiercely tempest-tossed does not prove at, all that God has ceased to look upon him with favor. Paul was never nearer to God than at this moment when he was being tossed pitilessly about by the raging Mediterranean, and very likely undergoing the throes of seasickness. Never was Paul more faithful. Oftentimes the best thing for us to do when thus tem pest-tossed is to “lighten the ship,” Many of us are carrying too much cargo for such
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