Verses: Acts 27
Fun Fact: Biscayne Bay National Park includes the northern portion of the Florida reef system. It is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental US and the third largest in the world!
Favorite Hike: Snorkeling along the Maritime Heritage Trail
Biscayne Bay National Park is located in the northern Florida Keys off the coast of Miami. It is the largest marine park in the national park system with 95% of the park underwater! The park includes coral reefs, shoreline mangrove forests and islands. Boca Chita is the most visited island in the park. You can camp there or at Elliot Key, but there aren’t any facilities.
You can access Boca Chita by private boat, or if you are visiting, book a tour with the Biscayne National Park Institute. They offer island tours, snorkeling, sailing and paddling trips. There are also a number of other outfitters that offer tours, especially fishing trips.
Biscayne includes the northern portion of the Florida reef system, the only living coral barrier reef in the continental US and the third largest in the world. This makes Biscayne and the surrounding areas a great place to go snorkeling or diving. Within the turquoise waters, you can find spectacular sea life, including sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, and over 500 species of fish!
You can also find several shipwrecks. The Maritime Heritage Trail provides an opportunity to explore the remains of six historic shipwreck sites, spanning nearly a century. These ships are in fairly shallow water, making them accessible to snorkelers or divers.
For example, the Alicia, a 345 ft. steam ship from Liverpool, England was en route to Havana when it hit the reef during a storm. It was carrying a number of valuables among its cargo such as silks and silverware.
The apostle Paul knew a little about shipwrecks. He tells us he was shipwrecked three times and spent a day and night adrift at sea (2 Cor. 11:25). This doesn’t include the shipwreck recorded in Acts 27.
In this chapter, Paul, a prisoner, was leaving Caesarea and heading toward Rome but ended up shipwrecked and stranded in Malta. I encourage you to read Acts 27 in its entirety. It provides vivid detail of the events that unfold.
As the voyage becomes more difficult, Paul offered a warning in verse 9 but was dismissed by the captain. In verses 18–19, things continued to worsen, and they began to throw the cargo overboard.
Verse 20 describes the severity of the situation as they began to lose hope: “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.”
In verse 21, we see Paul start to take the lead. Remember, he was a prisoner at this point, not someone in a position of authority or leadership, but he told the people (276 on board) that an angel of the Lord came to him and told him that the ship would be destroyed but that no lives would be lost.
Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. (Acts 27:22–25)
And friends, that is exactly what happened. Verses 39–46 describe the actual shipwreck. They hit a reef, and the stern of the boat broke apart. They were all ordered to jump overboard and swim toward land…and it says all were brought safely.
There are many things we can learn from this chapter and this event in Paul’s life. Here are just a few:
Never forget the providence of God. He can calm the seas (Psalm 107:29), and He can stir them up. Nothing is a surprise to the Lord, and nothing is outside of His control.
The Lord may use seemingly hopeless and devastating situations to show His power. We see this time and time again throughout the Word.
The Lord keeps His promises. Paul knew this, and we should too. The Lord said there would be no loss of life—and there wasn’t. The Lord is faithful.
I pray that as you visit Biscayne Bay, you are reminded of this account and how Paul, a prisoner, remembered the promises the Lord had made to him—that he would testify in Rome and stand before Caesar—and acted in faith.
We don’t see the Lord calming the storm, but we see His provision within it. I pray this is an encouragement to you in your own life.
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