Joel M Bradshaw

33Just before dawn Paul urged them all [on the ship] to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.–Acts 27

1. The ships crew had starved themselves as they were battered by two weeks of storms.
2. They were in need of both food and hope.
3. Paul brought God into their scary situation and gave them that hope. Paul both brought peace and encouraged them to eat again.
4. I journey with depressed, scared, and lonely people who sometimes feel like their situations are lost and hopeless. I even find out that some of them have even drastically changed their routines, such as stopping showering, eating, or sleeping.
5. The greatest moments in biblical counseling are when we open up the Bible together and find hope.
6. When our perspective changes, we can find it easier to resume necessary tasks. God’s Word has brought hope to my hopeless situation, and so now I can resume my good daily routines again.
7. How does the Bible bring hope to your challenging situation? What is the next right thing you can do in your life?–JMB