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Acts 27:1-28:16 NKJV – Paul Experiences Numerous Hardships En route to Rome:

You are Not Out of God’s Will, even if you do not Experience Smooth Sailing while Pursuing It!

As we come to the closing section of the book of Acts, there is one conclusion that can be made after reading virtually every chapter. Spirit-controlled people who serve the Lord with confessed hearts and pure motives still experience hardships. Hardships are not punishment or discipline from God; rather, they are ways God brings about His divine plan, teach believers what His will is, and sometimes serve as powerful occasions to reflect on and learn from and grow in faith. And while it is completely acceptable for a believer to admit s/he is exhausted after difficult circumstances and needs encouragement while in the difficult circumstance, experiencing hardships does not automatically mean that the believer is out of God’s will in any way.

God had told Paul that He wanted Paul to be His witness in Rome just as he had in Jerusalem (Acts 23:11). God also provided Paul with the occasion to appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:11), which guaranteed that he would go to Rome. In addition, God made it so Paul would secure an all-expense paid trip to Rome on Rome’s nickel. International travel was primarily done by sea because this trip from Caesarea to Rome on foot would have been almost 2,500 miles. By sea, it reduced the length of travel to approximately 1,300 miles. Paul personally wanted to travel to Rome to minister and had the confidence that God wanted him to minister there (Acts 19:21, Acts 23:11; Romans 1:9-15, 15:23-28). So, when Paul, along with the sailing crew and others, experienced rough conditions and challenging circumstances en route to Rome, Paul never questioned if the Lord wanted him to go to Rome. He did not base his level of confidence on the physical details related to the mission – challenging or smooth sailing – as the ultimate gauge of whether he was in God’s will. He based his level of confidence on God’s truth, character, and promises.

Paul offered this informative detail to everyone on the ship so that they would be emotionally prepared for what was about to come, so they would not doubt that they were still doing what God wanted them to do. Paul mentioned there would still be more hardships to come on the voyage, “However, we must run aground on a certain island” (Acts 27:26 NKJV). This happened near Malta (Acts 27:41 NKJV). But this hardship ended up with Paul becoming an influential witness to the people of Malta (Acts 28:1-6), performing many miracles (Acts 28:1-10), and gaining continued favor with the Roman centurion who was over the entire expedition (Acts 27:43, 28:16). And it is no doubt that Paul used this occasion to share the Gospel as is recorded all throughout Acts chapters 13-28! Experiencing hard times is not an automatic sign that a believer is sinning or out of the will of God. Paul was saying that God allows these challenges for His divine purposes, and we are to learn from them and endure through them with the right heart attitude and continue pursuing what God wants us to do. And while God may never provide the reason why He allows certain circumstances to occur in our lives, believers are usually able to see, after the fact, how and why God permitted them. But in the moment, we are to learn what we can about trusting God, obeying His will, and learning any lessons that mature us spiritually..

Paul offered this informative detail to everyone on the ship so that they would be emotionally prepared for what was about to come, so they would not doubt that they were still doing what God wanted them to do. Paul mentioned there would still be more hardships to come on the voyage, “However, we must run aground on a certain island” (Acts 27:26). This happened near Malta (Acts 27:41 NKJV). But this hardship ended up with Paul becoming an influential witness to the people of Malta (Acts 28:1-6), performing many miracles (Acts 28:1-10), and gaining continued favor with the Roman centurion who was over the entire expedition (Acts 27:43, 28:16). And it is no doubt that Paul used this occasion to share the Gospel as is recorded all throughout Acts chapters 13-28! Experiencing hard times is not an automatic sign that a believer is sinning or out of the will of God. Paul was saying that God allows these challenges for His divine purposes, and we are to learn from them and endure through them with the right heart attitude and continue pursuing what God wants us to do. And while God may never provide the reason why He allows certain circumstances to occur in our lives, believers are usually able to see how and why God permitted them. But in the moment, we are to learn what we can about trusting God, obeying His will, and learning any lessons that mature us spiritually.

How does one know that s/he is not experiencing hardships as a result of sin? One needs only to evaluate his/her heart. If one’s heart is pure in his/her worship of the Lord, motives pure and not self-serving, and he/she is ushering all glory to God, then hard times are not an indication of any punishment for any sins. In fact, they could provide you with the best direction on how to best serve the Lord in your endeavors. Even Paul began a trip to witness in many churches, but God, through changes of plans and altered details, divinely redirected him towards Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). In addition, difficult conditions can even be for nothing more than for God to receive glory in a unique and divine way (John 9:1-3)!

Sometimes people wonder if they are experiencing hardships because there is some sin in their life that they do not even know about, like believing someone might have hidden an evil relic in their purse or backpack that causes bad things to happen everywhere they go. Fortunately, this is not how we are affected spiritually. The believer simply needs to pray Psalm 139:23-24 daily and ask God to expose anything s/he is unaware of. God will bless the believer who performs this level of spiritual evaluation, in that God disciplines the believer but does not punish the believer.

Spirit-controlled believers often know when hardships are not caused by any sin in their lives (Acts 27:23-25). And oftentimes when hardships are caused by sin, spirit-controlled believers know as a result of the conviction He has placed in their hearts (Jonah 1:9-16). Spirit-controlled believers are never afraid to ask if a hardship occurs because of any sin in their lives, but after humbly and gratefully thanking God that there is no sin present, they turn to learning from each circumstance and then look forward to the Lord revealing the reason why they went through the circumstances.

Spirit-controlled believers often know when hardships are not caused by any sin in their lives (Acts 27:23-25). And oftentimes when hardships are caused by sin, spirit-controlled believers know as a result of the conviction He has placed in their hearts (Jonah 1:9-16). Spirit-controlled believers are never afraid to ask if a hardship occurs because of any sin in their lives, but after humbly and gratefully thanking God that there is no sin present, they turn to learning from each circumstance and then look forward to the Lord revealing the reason why they went through the circumstances.

In his travel to Rome, Paul experienced both hardships (Acts 27:1-28:16) and the blessing of companionship (see our Devotional on Acts 28:17-29). Paul also experienced the peace of God of knowing that he was pursuing the Lord’s will with a pure heart and that God would guide him along the journey to Rome. And as he experienced all of the hardships and turbulent circumstances, he learned from them and even grew spiritually. And from it all, he strengthened other believers because of what he learned, as evidenced in his advice to the believers in Philippi when he wrote them in his forthcoming two-year imprisonment in Rome, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV).

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect on how you feel when you experience hardships. Do you have a difficult time discerning whether they are occurring for punishment, discipline, or are simply hardships from which to grow in your faith? Do you pretty much know deep down if the purpose of hardship is because of sin in your life or not? Think about what your common reaction is when hardships come into your life. Anxiety? Shaken faith in God? A loss of control of your emotions? Anger? Depression? Take a moment to remind yourself how to properly respond to hardships.

Pray and ask God that you would be Spirit-controlled and be able to discern when hardships serve as punishment, discipline, or simply events you need to learn from to grow in your faith. Ask Him to keep you from becoming bitter when you encounter hardships. Commit to Him that you will run to Him in prayer with a trusting heart when you experience them. Feel free to respectfully tell Him what you feel when hardships come, and be open to asking Him for help through them. But be quick to tell Him you trust Him in every circumstance because you want to grow in your faith.