Paul has appealed to Rome, and finally it is decided that they should set sail. But Paul's dream (and most of our lives) doesn't end up looking the way he expected it to look. First of all, he was going to Rome as a prisoner instead of on his own terms, and secondly, they ended up being blown way off course before they were even halfway there.
Sin brings all kinds of death. Death physically, relationally, spiritually. Sickness, disease, war, affliction, and trouble are now part of human existence. Sin corrupts us all the way down – mind, will, emotions, desires, leaving us completely depraved and unable to please God. By the time you get to the end of Genesis 6, one of Adam and Eve’s sons has killed the other; people are bragging about sex and murder, until, “When the Lord saw that ... every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.”
“When I observe your heavens, the work of your finger, the moon and the stars you set in place, what is a human being that you remember him?” David asks a great question here, but even David doesn’t know where history is headed. God himself doesn’t just remember humans – he becomes one.
Sometimes we see the beauty of grace immediately. Other times, the beauty remains hidden for a long time. But in either case, grace is still grace – undeserved FAVOR from the Lord.