Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By R.A. Mathews

The New Year is upon us!

Many look forward to it weeks in advance, plotting and planning — heads full of ideas. “What will I accomplish this year?” they ask.

Yet others are completely focused on dealing with disasters 2024 has brought. In fact, facing the destruction may go on for years. 

The Palm Beach Post reported in June of 2023, nearly four years after Dorian hit the Bahamas, that people were still living in tents or going between friends and family looking for a place to live. The Post said even insured business owners remained displaced: “… the increased cost of building materials has meant that their payout has not been enough to repair both their home and their business.”

You may remember that Dorian hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 and then the slow-moving hurricane sat there. It was unbelievable. Such a phenomenon seemed unprecedented. 

However, the Bible tells us of what may have been the steadiest hurricane of all time—two weeks long. Do you recall which prophet predicted that storm?

1.) Noah

2.) Elijah

3.) Jonah

4.) Paul

Look over your choices and take a guess if you aren’t sure. We can narrow the answers. 

First, Noah endured a flood, not a hurricane. Second, Elijah was in a cave when terrible winds struck. Third, Jonah boarded a ship to flee God, and he would never have chosen one he knew was heading into a hurricane.

It’s No. 4, “Paul.” 

In the closing chapters of Acts, roughly 60 A.D., the centurion Julius took Paul and other Roman prisoners on a voyage of nearly 2,000 miles to Rome.

When the ship stopped at Fair Havens on the south side of Crete, Paul said, ““Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also” (Acts 27:10, NIV).

Julius respected Paul, but the Fair Havens’ harbor wasn’t suitable for winter. So, the ship sailed on, hoping to reach a better port.

Scripture says, “Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island” (Acts 27:14, NIV).

On that first terrible day, the sailors passed ropes under the ship to try to hold it together. On the second day, the ship took such a beating that the sailors threw their cargo overboard. On the third day, they tossed away their equipment.

By the fourth day, the storm was still raging. I live close to the coast and know how hurricanes usually go: A hit, a calm, another hit and then they’re gone. No one can imagine how those in the Bahamas suffered when Dorian stayed put, but those with Paul seem to have endured the same intense storm even longer.

In the midst of that crisis, Paul said, “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete … ” (Acts 27:21, NIV).

Paul wasn’t trying to annoy them. He wanted the men to listen to him. Then Paul told them about his dream.

“Last night,” Paul said, “an angel … stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul… God [will protect] the lives of all who sail with you’” (Acts 27:23-24, NIV).

The men listened and believed. Even so, as the ship was breaking apart, the soldiers decided to kill all the prisoners to keep them from escaping. It was only because Julius wanted to protect Paul that Julius stopped his soldiers from carrying out their plan, and everyone was saved.

The ship did break apart, but all aboard made it safely to a nearby island.

Paul didn’t have spaghetti models, airplanes, hurricane hunters or any of the tremendous technology we have. Paul’s walk with Jesus was all Paul needed to predict that storm. And the men aboard Paul’s ship were blessed. 

No, it probably didn’t feel that way in the midst of the storm, and it probably wouldn’t to us had we been there. Nevertheless, each of those heathen men lived because of God, and, perhaps, many came to believe in Him (Acts 27:1-28:16).

A crisis can be a life-changing event. 

Hurricanes batter the soul, and they come to all of us. Expect one or more in the New Year—it may be your health, your finances, a crisis at work, trouble with a loved one. 

When you feel discouraged, stay close to Jesus. He is your Shepherd. Pray, sing praise, read Scripture, meditate — let a disaster strengthen your faith.

This year remember that with Jesus there’s no storm that can separate you from the love of God. (Romans 8:39)

He is your strength.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is a newspaper faith columnist and the author of the Reaching to God series and the mystery Emerald Coast: The Vendetta.  Visit the Rev. Mathews at RAMathews.com where you can write to her, join her book club, and read samples from the “Reaching to God” series. 

Copyright © 2025 R.A. Mathews.com.  All rights reserved.