The Outer Banks of North Carolina are notorious for shipwrecks. The cold Labrador Current collides with the warm Gulf Stream right on our shores, which are littered with shallow shifting sandbars and shoals that have caused many a sea vessel to run aground. In fact, over 3,000 shipwrecks are said to lie in state here, dating back to the late 1500’s and including over two dozen vessels sunk in World War II by German U-Boats. One of the most famous wrecks is the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the flagship of Blackbeard the Pirate. This area of our coast is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic for this reason. 

Even our town names reflect this part of our maritime history. The name Nags Head refers to the practice of hanging a lantern around the head of a horse and walking it along the shoreline in an effort to warn ships that they were too close to the land. The town of Kill Devil Hills was named for the local practice of collecting barrels of rum that washed ashore and hiding them in the tall sand dunes for safe keeping. This rum was said to be strong enough to kill the devil himself.

The Apostle Paul would have felt right at home here. Prior to the impending shipwreck that we read about in today’s passage, he had already survived three shipwrecks, which has to be some kind of record (2 Corinthians 11:25). Though not a sailor or a seaman, Paul warned his companions in verse 10 that this journey would also end in disaster, and he was right. A storm hit them that was so violent, the sun and the stars were blotted out for days. Nobody ate for days. All hope was lost.

Acts 27 (Common English Bible)

³³ Just before daybreak, Paul urged everyone to eat. He said, “This is the fourteenth day you’ve lived in suspense, and you’ve not had even a bite to eat. ³⁴ I urge you to take some food. Your health depends on it. None of you will lose a single hair from his head.”³⁵ After he said these things, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, then broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ Everyone was encouraged and took some food. ³⁷ (In all, there were two hundred seventy-six of us on the ship.)

Paul and his companions were on this ship as prisoners waiting to go on trial before Caesar in Rome. It would seem that this entire situation was bleak, yet Paul stood up and gave them amazing instructions. He encouraged them to eat and then assured them that not one hair would be harmed on their heads. An angel had told him that he and every man would survive. The ship and the cargo would be shattered, but their lives would be spared. And they were.

Paul’s bold proclamation is a good reminder for when we find ourselves in a severe storm riding on a sinking ship. Take heart! God has a plan.

Do you believe this? Do you feel God’s comforting presence when your life goes adrift and suddenly crashes into an unseen sand bar? Those are the times that test and strengthen our faith. In the face of death by starvation, drowning, or being killed by the soldiers, Paul and his friends arrived safely on dry land.

Take heart! God is with you.

God With Us by Michelle Robertson