Devotionary

Things in this life are going to be tough at times. But we are to not to shrink back in fear or give up hope. Like Paul, we are to remain committed to spreading the gospel message, regardless of the circumstances we may face in this life.

When God works in or around your life, do you find yourself shocked or surprised? If something out-of-the-ordinary or totally inexplicable takes place, are you prone to write it off as strange or do you immediately give God the credit?

Paul knew that his days on earth were numbered and that the future well-being of the church was dependent upon the spiritual leadership he and the other apostles would leave behind.

While the majority of the citizens of Ephesus remained unsaved, they were seeing and feeling the influence of the gospel’s transformative power. Like yeast in a batch of dough, the new believers in Ephesus were slowly spreading their influence throughout the city, eliciting a range of reactions, from positive to negative, but rarely indifferent.

What began to happen when Paul arrived in town and the good news of Jesus Christ began to make its way around the city, was like nothing these people had ever seen before. They were seeing something new and many of them were becoming new creations, and experiencing the life-altering joy of new life in Christ.

Rather than trying to live radically different lives in their own limited strength, they would receive the indwelling presence and power of the Spirit of God who would equip them to live like children of God. The coming of the Spirit made new life in Christ possible and a life lived like Christ achievable.

God calls, but God also equips. He raises up men and women to communicate the good news regarding His Son, but he surrounds them with competent individuals who can step in alongside them, providing much-needed training and, if necessary, reproof.

What we need to see in all of this is the sovereign hand of God, working in unforeseen and unpredictable ways, to accomplish His divine will. Nothing escapes His notice. Nothing happens outside His divine purview.

Paul was human. He must have become weary with all the resistance and rejection. So much so, that God had to encourage him to keep on keeping on. He wanted Paul to know that there were many more who needed to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Now was not the time to give up or give in to pressure. But he was to go on speaking and not to be silent.

Paul was going to reveal to the identity of the one god they worshiped but who they didn’t know. They simply called him the unknown god, but Paul was going to let them know that the only God they didn’t know was the one they desperately needed to know. The one whose Son had died on the cross for their sins.

Paul found himself in enemy territory, but was not afraid. He saw Athens as an opportunity to spread the gospel and to see God work. While the sheer number of false gods bothered him, it also inspired him to speak of the one true God. The presence of falsehood demanded that the truth be told. The worship of non-existent gods simply proved to Paul that the people of Athens were ready to hear about the God who brought all things into existence, including them.

Paul and Silas were accused of turning the world upside-down. Lives were being radically changed. Entire communities were being revolutionized by the good news concerning Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation. But while many embraced their message with open arms and receptive hearts, many more refused to listen.

We never know what God has up His sleeve. We have no way of knowing what he may have planned and how He is going to use what appears to be a negative situation and use it to accomplish His divine will.

The people we meet and the circumstances we face are never the products of blind chance. They are the well-orchestrated byproduct of God’s all-knowing and all-powerful redemptive plan. Like Paul and Silas, we need to learn to look for God’s unmistakable presence and rest in His unshakeable control over the world He has made and all who live in it.

Paul was being led by the Spirit of God. His ministry needs were being divinely met and the direction for his ministry was being directed from above. He was operating within the will of God and being directed by the Spirit of God. All for the glory of God.