The beloved physician Luke wrote, “when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart there also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lies toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing there, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive”, and in chapter twenty-seven and verse sixteen of the book of Acts Luke shared what happened as they were, “running under a certain island which is called Clauda where we read:
And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:
The verse begins, “And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, ...” Luke began with the words, “and running under a certain island” which means “and being navigated past and to a higher position beneath a particular islet or small island” “which is called Clauda” or “that is named and known as Clauda whose name means lame and was a small island nearly due west of Cape Malta on the south coast of Crete, and nearly due south of Phenice”. Luke shared how the ship navigated on its own toward a small islet whose name was “Clauda”.
The verse goes on to say, “... we had much work to come by the boat:” Luke continued with the words, “we had much work” which means “we, Luke, Paul and the others with them, were forced to be available to do a large and abundant amount of labor and service” “to come by the boat” or “to have mastery and power over the sailing vessel or ship”. Luke shared how he, Paul and the others with them had to exert a lot of force to master and power over the ship.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we see how the “ship” navigated on its own toward a small inlet whose name was “Clauda”, and in order to master over the ship, he, Paul and the others with them had to use an abundant amount of force to attempt to control the boat. God's plan was coming together, and “Paul” was destined to share His gospel in the city of “Rome”. Though the ship carrying him was in such a violent storm that control of it had to be left to itself, the ship came close to a small islet where power over the ship would possibly provide a safe place to land. We shall see what happens to the ship in our next few verses, but for now, let us notice the hand of God was preserving His servant “Paul”, and those who carefully study this story will discover the love and forgiveness God desires to extend to every person who will yield to His Son Jesus.
Next time Luke shares, “we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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