Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

–Acts 27:14-26 (TNIV)

I always chuckle at Paul in this story. He can’t resist telling the sailors, “I told you so.” Regardless of Paul’s motive, Luke points us to a deeper truth here. Paul has absolute and total trust in God. When he confronted him on the road to Damascus, Jesus told Paul that he must suffer for his name and Paul took him seriously. Because Paul had an intimate relationship with Christ, he trusted him completely and knew that everyone on the ship would be safe, even though the ship itself would be lost.

This is how it is when we trust in God, isn’t it? If we put our hope and trust in God, it does not guarantee that we will not be subjected to the storms of life. That’s not what putting your faith in God is all about. Rather, it is about living your life in a way that will bring glory to God, even (or especially) in the midst of life’s storms. When we know the One who loves us and gave himself for us, we can have peace even in the midst of life’s darkest moments.

Do you know God well enough to trust him in this?

We ask not of you, O Father, silver and gold, honor and glory, nor the pleasures of the world, but grant us grace to seek your kingdom and your righteousness, and add to us things necessary for the body and for this life. Behold, O Lord, our desire; may it be pleasing in your sight. We present our petition to you through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is at your right hand, our mediator and advocate, through whom you sought us that we might seek you; your Word, through whom you made us and all things; your only begotten Son, through whom you called us to adoption, who intercedes with you for us, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; to him, with yourself and the Holy Spirit, be all honor, praise and glory, now and forever. Amen.

–Augustine

So let us always reflect the image of God in these ways:
I do not swell up with the arrogance of pride;
nor do I droop with the blush of anger;
nor do I succumb to the passion of avarice;
nor do I surrender myself to the ravishes of gluttony;
nor do I infect myself with the duplicity of hypocrisy;
nor do I contaminate myself with the filth of rioting;
nor do I grow flippant with the pretension of conceit;
nor do I grow enamored of the burden of heavy drinking;
nor do I alienate by the dissension of mutual admiration;
nor do I infect others with the biting of detraction;
nor do I grow conceited with the vanity of gossip.

Rather, instead, I will reflect the image of God in that I feed on love;
grow certain on faith and hope;
strengthen myself on the virtue of patience;
grow tranquil by humility;
grow beautiful by chastity;
am sober by abstention,
am made happy by tranquility;
and am ready for death by practicing hospitality.

It is with such inscriptions that God imprints his coins with an impression made neither by hammer nor by chisel but has formed them with his primary divine intention. For Caesar required his image on every coin, but God has chosen man, whom he has created, to reflect his glory.

–Anonymous, Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 42

No one living in this life can see [God] as he is. Many have seen, but they saw what his will chose, not what his nature formed, and this is what John said, if he is rightly understood: “Dearly beloved, we are the sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like to him, because we shall see him as he is”; not as men saw him when he willed under the appearance that he willed; not in his nature under which he lies hidden within himself even when he is seen, but as he is. This is what was asked of him by the one who spoke to him face to face, when he said to him, “Show me yourself,” but no one can at any time experience the fullness of God through the eyes of the body any more than by the mind itself.

–Letter 147.8-9