Go ahead, Eat Something

While they waited until it should become day, Paul entreated them all to take some food, saying, This is the fourteenth day that you have been continually in suspense  and  on the alert without food, having eaten nothing.  So I urge (warn, exhort, encourage, advise) you to take some food [for your safety]--it will give you strength; for not a hair is to perish from the head of any one of you.  Having said these words, he took bread and, giving thanks to God before them all, he broke it and began to eat.  Then they all became more cheerful  and  were encouraged and took food themselves.  All told there were 276 souls of us in the ship.  And after they had eaten sufficiently, [they proceeded] to lighten the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. (Acts 27:33-38 AMP) I have a tendency to make situations and circumstances much worse in my life because I over think things or give too much credit to issues that really don't matter as much as I think they do. I am similar to these men mentioned above on the ship. Their ship is being carried away by a violent storm, their lives are on the verge of being taken away, their ship could be destroyed at any moment.  Despite the word from Paul about his visit from the angel saying that everything would be alright, they are still frantically worrying.  These men are so scared that they have not had anything to eat for fourteen days.  Paul tells them to simply eat some food to regain their strength and that everything will be alright.  What I notice about this story is that Paul didn't tell everyone on the ship to fall to their knees and pray, paul didn't hold a 24/7 prayer watch, paul didn't try to convert everyone on board to Christianity, Paul didn't try to over spiritualize the situation.  He acted in the natural telling the men to eat something. And what happened after they ate?  Their outlook changed, their strength grew and they were encouraged and given hope that everything would be alright.   My point is that we can tend to over spiritualize situations in our lives that can lead us into a dark place rather than restoring our hope.  We can fast and pray ourselves into a mind-bending spiritual dryness when God is simply telling us to eat something.   I'm not saying fasting and praying over situations are bad ideas.  What I am saying is that sometimes we can give the enemy authority over our circumstances and allow him to torment us simply by worrying over what he could possibly do next.   I have been worrying and over thinking what my next step in life should be.  I have spent so much time focusing on this next step that I have lost sleep over the issue, I have gone through brief stents with minor depression over the quality of my life.  I have been trying to over spiritualize the issue which has lead me into this dark place.  I am starting to hear God tell me "it's not that big of a deal".  I'm starting to feel God leading me to simply eat something rather than worry myself out of a joyful and prosperous life.  If you've been finding yourself in struggles lately and you're worrying yourself crazy, trying to understand the spiritual significance behind everything, I'll encourage you to stop.  Take a look around, know that life was not meant to be this difficult.  Stop trying to over spiritualize every detail and simply eat something.  You'll notice God at work when you relax and take a look around.