Listen to God not ourselves or others for God's best
Luke wrote a historical narrative about the birth of the church and the new ministry of the Holy Spirit for Theophilus. As they were about to embark for Phoenix, the centurion in charge of the voyage consulted with the vessel owner, captain, crew, and Paul. Since it was near the Day of Atonement, it must have been late September to late October. This was an unsafe time to sail in the Mediterranean. Paul had been shipwrecked several times previously (2 Corinthians 11:25) and knew the perils of sailing this late in the season.[1] Paul probably heard a warning prophetically from the Holy Spirit and did not react just out of his flesh.
They of course got into trouble and feared for their lives. Paul later gave them encouragement during their darkest hour from a message that he received from an angel. They realized that they should have heeded his advice. They believed that he was hearing from God (although the superstitious Romans would not realize which god Paul was receiving favor from) and trusted him with their life, which they demonstrated by cutting loose the sea anchors and life boat.
In our lives, we have choices. We can seek The Lord for His guidance or we can do things on our own. The Lord honors our free will and allows us to choose. We sometimes choose wisely. But God always knows the correct course of action. We need to proactively seek His will. Otherwise, we will not see God's best for our lives and for His glory. In bad cases, we end up on our knees begging God to deliver us from the consequences of our bad choices.
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[1]John B. Polhill, Acts, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), 518-9.
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