Flight 5220 took off “from Magadan Airport, just north of the Sea of Okhotsk in far eastern Russia” this last December.[1] Shortly after takeoff, the airplane threw its almost 200 passengers down, then up, and the plane dove, then recovered. One aviation website reports, “Picture one of those terrible C-grade Hollywood movies that show an airliner out of control, with baggage bins coming open, carry-ons floating through the cabin and oxygen masks dropping. It was that kind of awful. And it lasted for more than an hour.” People screamed and prayed, and the pilot tried to make an emergency landing at the airport they had just taken off from but failed and had to fly on to a different airport.

I wrote this part of my sermon before I flew down to The Nineveh Network’s church-planting meeting a couple of weeks ago (CCCC). Part of me wondered if the Lord was going to help me “live out” this part of the message, but my flight was smooth. What do you do when your life feels out of control? Hold on for dear life? What do you do when you hit turbulence? Scream, and pray? You might have guessed from my sermon title today, but I have a different response in mind. What if we were to… trust the pilot?

Paul’s life has been in turbulence for a long time, but it’s gotten especially bad lately. He spent the last two years in prison because of a corrupt official, Felix, and now he’s on his way to Rome to appeal his case. God told Paul he was sending him to Rome (Acts 23:11), so you would think things would go smoothly, wouldn’t you? Sometimes God calls us to do something, but he doesn’t tell us the skies will be blue. Sometimes we hit turbulence, and it’s in those moments that we have an opportunity to trust our pilot.

Paul sails through storms on his way to Rome. God doesn’t spare him turbulence. I find Acts 27 to be a fascinating chapter because it shows the historicity of the book of Acts. It’s full of nautical and topographic details that are true to the Mediterranean. The way Luke wrote this chapter shows its authenticity and trustworthiness. Luke was on the boat with Paul, which is why he uses “we” language, and he recounts the journey in detail. I’m going to walk us through the journey to help us see God’s faithfulness to Paul.

Paul and some other prisoners are handed over to Julius, a Centurion over 100-soldiers. It’s his job to take Paul to Rome for his trial before Caesar Nero (v1). So they board a ship that is originally from Adramyttium and is headed home in the same direction they want to go (v2). Aristarchus, a Greek, and Luke are with Paul. God gave Paul brothers-in-Christ for the journey. They go through it too. Who has God given you to walk with life through? Your church family and brothers and sisters in Christ.

They sail to Sidon, which only takes a day (v3). Things are going well. We can do this! Sometimes the skies will be blue, and the path will be clear. And on days like that, you’re free to walk around the cabin. Your pilot will still take you to your destination, even when the storm clouds come. But sometimes, the chime will ding, and you need to fasten your seatbelt.

They sail out into the sea where they encounter winds pushing against them, so they sail across the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia (v4-5). They land at Myra in Lycia. They board a new ship from Alexandria in northern Egypt sailing for Italy (v6). They sail to Cnidus but change course due to heavy winds, sailing to the lee of Crete opposite Salmone and landing at Fair Havens.

But Fair Havens isn’t a suitable place to stay for the winter; there wasn’t even a city there—it was “near” Lasea (v8). Paul warns Julius, his Centurion, not to keep sailing. This is the moment he’s going to remind them of when disaster strikes, literally saying, “I told you so!” (v21). But the centurion doesn’t listen and tries to sail them to a more suitable harbor at Phoenix on Crete.

Acts 27:11 (NIV)

But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice