God's Promise Prevails in the Storm | Ryne Lynch

Jesus told Paul he was going to Rome. The sail should have taken three or four weeks. It took two and a half years.

In between, Paul sat in a Jerusalem jail, got put on a ship that never should have left, spent 14 days in a storm with no sun or stars to steer by, watched all 276 people on board give up hope, and got bit by a snake about five minutes after washing up on an island he'd never heard of. None of that canceled what God said.

We're in Acts 27 and 28 this week, walking through three things that didn't change the promise: the delay, the difficulty, and the detour. Delay shows you where you've started cutting corners. Storms show you what you actually trust when the cargo goes over the side. And Malta, the island nobody would have picked, is where the gospel landed and stayed. That island is over 85% Christian today, with a port named after Paul and a holiday every year for the day the ship wrecked there.

You don't get to pick the storm. You do get to pick whether you trust Jesus in it and how you respond.

Some of what we cover:

The delay in your life doesn't change the promise over your life

Cutting the rope on the lifeboat (Acts 27:30-32)

God never promised Paul the boat. He promised him Rome.

Paul shook the snake into the fire and got back to work

Stay faithful where you are, because everything you need to get where you're going is already there

Scripture: Acts 9:5, 9:15, 23:11, 27:20, 27:30-32, 28:1-10, Philippians 1:12-14, 4:22

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0:00 Who loves being in control?

1:58 First flight, first turbulence

3:30 Saul becomes Paul

6:15 "You must go to Rome" (Acts 23:11)

7:11 We love the plans until we hear the plans

9:22 The delay doesn't change the promise

11:26 Paul warns them not to sail

13:02 Fourteen days, no sun or stars

14:42 All hope was gone (Acts 27:20)

16:34 The difficulty doesn't change the promise

18:28 My own storm: the move to Prairie Grove

20:17 Eleven out of twenty-five prayer requests

22:04 Cutting the rope on the lifeboat (Acts 27:30-32)

24:11 Don't confuse the boat with the promise

26:01 The detour doesn't change the promise

26:23 Washed up on Malta, bitten by a snake

28:00 He shook it into the fire

29:00 Publius, and an island that gets healed

30:52 Nobody would have chosen Malta

32:26 Showered with honors (Acts 28:10)

34:27 Rome, in chains

35:40 Greetings from Caesar's household

36:44 The two things you do get to choose

38:34 Grandma in the hospital

40:10 Consider the experience of the pilot

42:20 Closing prayer