September 1, 2022
Passage Read: Acts 26-27
Meditation Verses: 27:21-22
Thought
Without God's grace and intervention, there would have been loss of life along with all of the ship and everything in it. That was the track they were on if they sailed from Fair Havens against God's instruction. But having set sail and being caught in the wind, the Lord was committed to protect Paul, and Paul pleaded for the lives of everyone else on board, which God granted him. So it was not like Paul's prophecy failed, but God intervened on Paul's behalf and gave him the lives of all the rest on board. The likely outcome Paul announced at first was the outcome sure to fall without the grace and intervention of the Lord, but God has a right to intervene and change the outcome, for either good or bad.
Application
Paul's prophetic warning failed to come to pass only because he prayed to God to intervene. What could happen, the bad stuff warned about in Scripture will come if there is no change along the way. Even all of God's prophecies of doom could be changed if only the people repented and returned to obedience to the Lord. Sadly, in most cases the people didn't repent. But there are notable examples of when they did, like when Jonah preached to Nineveh. The same is true today, and the same warnings need to be announced. It is likely that terrible things will come if we don't repent, terrible things are already coming! But if we repent, there may still be time to change or at least delay the inevitable. People still need a warning and a call to repent.