Acts 27:18

Acts 27:18 says, And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;  We find they were being exceedingly tossed by the tempest, so the next day they lightened the ship.  Verse nineteen adds, And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.  The third day everyone cast out the tackling of the ship. First the crew was working to save the ship- saying they lightened- and the next day everyone was- saying we threw out.  When we see devastation in the world, especially to those that God has already warned, and they have ignored His warning, which would be everyone because God’s word warns us of the coming destruction, we cannot sit back and ignore nor applaud the action.  We could say that Paul and the others with him only helped because they wanted to save themselves, but they knew the outcome was in God's hands.  Even knowing the ultimate fate of those who refuse to listen to God does not excuse us from helping them when they need help, whether it benefits us or not.  Too often today Christians seem to be in the punishment business instead of the saving business.  We seem to want others punished or even destroyed instead of saved.  Verse twenty continues, And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.  Then, Paul and the rest of those on the ship spent several days in darkness, seeing neither the sun or moon.  The lost in the world today are in a similar darkness. They cannot or will not see the light of salvation.  We are charged with doing everything we can to help them come to the Light.  They had given up hope we are told in verse twenty.  At times, people have to reach the point of realizing being saved by the world is impossible before accepting the salvation of Christ.  Though this is always true that until we believe that Christ is the only way to salvation, some only get to that point when all seems lost.  We, as His followers, are to be there to give them hope, not rejoice in their misery.