Acts 27

Since Paul appealed to Caesar in chapter 25, he now begins his journey, with other prisoners, from Caesarea to Rome (see map). The voyage goes smoothly until they get to the island of Crete, and then things pretty much go south from there (literally). They are blown south by a "tempestuous wind," away from land and into the middle of the Adriatic Sea.

This must have been utterly terrifying, even for the most experienced of sailors. And in fact after almost two weeks of being violently tossed by the storm and thrown out to sea, Luke writes these words: "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay upon us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned" (vs 20 emphasis mine). Note:

When these sailors faced a storm of such magnitude that their lives were at stake, they did everything they could to survive, including throwing most of the cargo overboard. Then, upon seeing that their best efforts to save themselves had failed, they gave up. But it was only after they had lost hope that they would listen to Paul. So it is with us. It's only when we as sinners lose all hope that we are prepared to listen to and understand God's word, and trust in the mercy of Jesus.

You might be going through the fiercest "storm" of your life right now. Have you lost all hope of saving yourself yet?