Acts 27:27-36
...When about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away. Just before dawn Paul urged them all 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. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." After 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. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.
It's easy to see all kinds of reactions by people during time of hardship. First, we saw the selfishness and self-preservation of the sailors. Every ship has lifesaving equipment and this ship is no exception, but there weren't enough lifeboats for everyone onboard; in fact, there was only one boat set aside to be used for escaping to safety. The lifeboat was supposed to be used for passengers, but the sailors wanted to use it for themselves and leaving the passengers onboard. They were afraid to die and selfish; they pretended to be lowering anchor but they actually just wanted to escape. That's a clear manifestation of human nature - We always just want to save ourselves. Christ, however, died for us when we were still sinners, and God's love was shown to us. Compared to the Lord's love, we can see how selfish we are by what these sailors did. We do everything for ourselves with no regard for others.
Next, we saw how others panicked. During time of hardship, people don't know where they are heading and their hearts are filled with anxiety and unease. It's sad to see how people are in such a pitiful state without faith in the true God - There's no hope, no God, no assurance, and thus they panic during any hardship.
Third, we saw that a person who belongs to God was rather calm during hardship. Not only did Paul asked people to eat something, he also acted as the minister onboard and brought comfort and encouragement to everyone - Paul essentially turned from a prisoner to a pastor! Do you see how a person who belonged to God brought forth real life change around him? Any time hardship occurs, those with real faith will manifest completely different testimonies and thus bring forth tremendous blessings to those around them.
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