Articles
Supporting Cables
The captain and crew of the ship were headed to Rome, but they were pushing their luck (Acts 27). It wasn’t the right season to be sailing. While they had every intention of pausing their voyage until winter was over, they hadn’t reached an adequate harbor. So on a day with promisingly good weather, they tried to push their way just a bit further down the coast to a more suitable winter location. Unfortunately, they’d read the weather incorrectly, and their short day-trip jaunt along the coast became a stormy, multi-week nightmare lost at sea.
The wind and waves pummeled the wooden ship almost immediately after they left port. They lost control and the ship threatened to fall apart at the seams. It was more pressure than the boat could handle. It desperately needed help. The crew pulled out their “supporting cables” and reinforced the hull of the ship sufficiently to keep the ship afloat (Acts 27:17). How the crew accomplished this is uncertain, but it seems they managed to get cables wrapped under the boat to squeeze the wooden planks together and prevent them from separating or dislodging. It worked, too. Despite the relentless storm, the ship held together, staying afloat for two weeks.
Can you picture those cables hugging the boat? Do you see what they were doing?
The Greek word translated “supporting cables” isn’t used very often in the Bible. In fact, there is only one other time it’s used. That time it is translated help. Hebrews 4:16 reads, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
When your life is falling apart and pummeled by storms, turn to Jesus. He is our supporting cable. He wraps His arms around us and holds us together, keeping us afloat. Isn’t that a comforting picture?
However, while it is tempting to think of our storm to be a reference to some physical challenge that we face, such as poor health or lost job, the context of the verse suggests a storm of a more spiritual nature. This is a storm involving our weaknesses and is contrasted to Jesus not sinning at all (Heb. 4:15). This is a storm where we need mercy and grace. This is speaking of times in our lives when we have failed God, when temptations and sin threaten to sink us. No storm can be more dangerous than that one. But Jesus has come to help us. He is on a throne of grace and is eager to assist us.
Therefore, not only do we turn to Jesus, but we turn to him “with confidence.” Our confidence is in His willingness to help. After all, He sympathizes with us rather than eagerly seeking opportunity to destroy us (Heb. 4:15). Our confidence is also in His ability to help. He has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14), finishing the journey that we are now on. He knows the way and sits triumphant on a throne. Who better to help us than one who understands us, has successfully reached our desired destination, and who sits on a throne with power, eager to reach out and help us? There is no one better.
