³⁹When day came, they could not recognize the land; but they did observe a bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could. ⁴⁰And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach. ⁴¹But striking a reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves.

By morning, the weather had broken somewhat; at least they could see what lay ahead. Only later (Acts 28:1) did they discover that the land before them was the island of Malta, 122 square miles in size, and situated about fifty miles south of Sicily, just off the toe of Italy’s boot. The ship and its occupants had come a long and crazy way.

Had the crew followed through on their nocturnal escape attempt, the ship would have run aground wildly in the dark. All would have died, even those in the lifeboat. Now, with clearer vision and a controlled grounding of the ship, they were in a better position to survive. Paul, of course, was confident of more than just survival. He had told them previously, “Keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told” (Acts 27:25).

The realism of this story is gripping. One can almost feel the wind, smell the salt air, hear the crazy pounding of the waves against the ship, the creaking of the timber planks, the slapping of the loosely furled sails, and the thunderous roar of the water breaking on the rocks and shore. Luke’s memory, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, is vivid.

Shipwreck was a foregone conclusion; the crew could only guide the vessel to the least damaging place to run ashore. So they headed to a visible beach area in a bay. Obviously the weather was still severe, for anchoring in the bay was not an option. So they cut anchor and put up the sail at the bow of the boat (putting up the mainsail would have been impossible to control in the high winds). One can imagine the difficulty of trying to hold the tiller (which connects to the rudder) in extremely torrential seas. So now they planned to loosen the cables holding the rudder in an attempt to steer the ship. But the cross-currents where the Adriatic Sea (the lower part of what today is called the Ionian Sea) and the Mediterranean Sea meet drove them onto a reef where the ship became immovably lodged and began to break apart.

All the while Paul remained confident; though outwardly the situation took a turn for the worse, there is no indication that he panicked.

Lord, help me not to panic but hold faith when Your will seems to go wrong!