Message: Acts 27 is one of my favorite chapters in Acts. Paul was being transported by ship with other prisoners. They were struggling with weather and doing all of the typical things to navigate through it but Paul saw disaster ahead and and he tried to warn them. They disregarded Paul’s advice because naturally, it made more sense to listen to the experienced ship captain. As things progressed just as Paul said they would and the crew struggled to do what they knew, Paul warned them again and he gave very specific details of what was ahead and what they should do. They fought as hard as they could using their experience and eventually Paul convinced them to eat to gain strength before dumping the excess weight overboard. Everything happened exactly as Paul said it would and everyone lived just he said they would. I’ve thought about this story many times simply because we all have areas of expertise and experience, and we all know people of expertise and experience. We tend to listen to the experts on their particular topics because that’s what wisdom does, but when God speaks something, he will put to shame the experienced in order to show up. When the experts do all they know and come up empty it just may be a moment to pay attention to see what God is doing. Although he gave the smart people their gift of knowledge, he will also use it to turn knowledge on it’s head just to give people a view of himself. God should never be our last ditch option, but we also should never abandon common sense. When common sense seems to elusive we just might be set up in the perfect storm for God to make an entrance.
