I Told You So

don’t you hate it when someone gloats, “I told you so?” Expecially when they warned or advised you about something and you did not heed their caution. It stings doubly, because you could have avoided whatever loss or reversal that occurred, and...you have to live with the stigma of knowing something, but not responding to it.

There seems to be just such an instance in Acts 27:21. A little background will help us to understand. Paul is on his way to Rome, courtesy of the Emperor, via the “best transportation Rome has to offer.” As you read the chapter, you discover that King Festus had dispatched Paul to Rome in the custody of a Roman Centurian named Julius. The exact number of soldiers accompanying Paul and the “other prisoners” is not indicated. He was part of the Augustan cohort. A cohort was a tenth of a legion and was between 360 and 800 soldiers.

The whole crew probably did not travel, but transporting or confining prisoners usually entailed a group of four, possibly multiplied by three for successive eight hour shifts. When Paul was taken to Caesarea the officer sent 70 horsemen and 200 soldiers. (Acts 23) We may safely infer that there were several soldiers involved.

Without going into details, which you can read for yourself in chapter 27, they ran into a little difficulty and put in at a harbor that the captain and ship owner deemed to be unsuitable for wintering. So they went on, in spite of Paul’s warning. Verses 9 and 10
Paul began to admonish them, 10 and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 

They went on and were caught in a terrible storm that blew them all over the Mediterranean. After 14 days (v. 27) they began to near some sort of refuge. Paul stood up in verse 21:
Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss.” 

FYI: They had first jettisoned the cargo, then all of the tackle and sails, and were in fear of losing the ship.

And Paul stood up and “rubbed their noses in it. Or did he? Read on.
22 “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’”

Paul was not gloating, but offering a validation of his “visions.” In essence, he was saying that the information that had been given to him was valid, true, and reliable. So what he was going to say next was likewise trustworthy. Listen
25 "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on a certain island.” 

Well, the boat crashing was not too encouraging, but he had promised that they all would survive and live to sail another day. (If they wanted to, that is.)

Paul was not a smartypants, lording it over the dummies with which he was consigned. He was sharing God’s message of salvation and deliverance. That is a pretty good message, and one that we ought to be shouting out today.

The chapter finishes with this description:
And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.

I have a strong suspicion that the centurion, and probably most of the soldiers became believers. We know that in the next chapter most of the inhabitants of the island became believers. This “little diversion” was not a glitch in God’s travel itinerary  for Paul, it was a designed encounter with some people who needed to know God. If we could see the travel planner it probably said, “Leave Caesarea, travel to Malta. Preach the Word. Proceed to Rome.” (The details are in Acts 27 and 28.)

Once again we are reminded that the Divine Author of the Bible did not waste words or time. He gave us what we needed to know, even if we didn’t know that we needed it. So when we need it, we have it. Having a reversal today? God does not always ‘make it all right,” but He is in control and nothing is out of His control. What a blessing.

Bon Voyage!