All Hope Gradually Abandoned

Acts 27 describes the Apostle Paul's transit to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. The ship he was on ran into very foul weather, a circumstance which Paul had dimly foreseen. After three days, the ships tackle had to be thrown overboard, and we read:

Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned. (Acts 27:22)

That phrase -- "all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned" -- grips me. I've been there. I've worked with people who are there. I think our culture lives here. The darkness is great, the storm is unrelenting, and the threat is real. There's no prospect of help, because having a prospect means you can see something, some possibility, however unlikely, of a way out.

That's what hope means.

But all hope of our being saved has been gradually abandoned.

Then, a star appears over Bethlehem. (No one really even notices.) And a baby is born in a manger.