Good morning, Zane.
Not much time left for an old man jog with two dogs before heading for church. The dogs are pleading that I at least do a shorty. OK—here we go…
Blessings on your day. Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
Here’s what I wrote in the margin of my Bible this morning next to this excerpt from the “strengthening” and “encouraging” words of Paul and Barnabas to the new believers at Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch: “TODAY THIS IMPRESSES ME AS MORE MEANINGFUL THAN EVER.”
This is nothing new—but I’ve had some fresh reasons of late to wonder why things are the way they are—how a person can do their utmost to be a sincere seeker of God, doing one’s best to acknowledge Him in all one’s ways, trusting Him to direct one’s paths—then to meet up with difficulty after difficulty, resistance, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, and even rejection. I seem to continually meet that kind of stuff. What in the world is going on? What in the world am I doing wrong??? Hmm. Based on the input of Paul and Barnabas, maybe—just maybe—I’m not doing anything wrong.
Consider this accounting of the experiences of Paul and Barnabas. They were definitely equipped with HEARTS AFTER GOD. They were definitely called of God and infused with a passion for communicating the Biblical Gospel. They were definitely faithful to that calling. And they were definitely effective in their calling—even used in a supernatural way to channel a miraculous healing to a guy who had never walked before. Suddenly that place erupted with acceptance. But it wasn’t the right kind—it was a pagan acceptance that placed Paul and Barnabas into the context of their own paganism. And when they resisted the pagan applause and tried to straighten out the goofed up worldview held by these people, of course they were so filled with anointing that all their hearers fell on their knees in worship and recognition of the True God. Right? Wrong? Instead, with the help of some wonderful Jews, who were about as pagan as anyone else in relation to the Truth of God, they went rabid against Paul and Barnabas—“They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead” (v. 19). How’s that for a reward for communicating the Gospel?!
Without the text giving much attention here to a miracle, I can’t avoid believing we have one here—a big one. I mean, who, in their right mind, could imagine survival after being bashed in the head by flying boulders, blood squirting all over the place, knocked unconscious, falling to the ground, and appearing to be dead? I find it easy to believe that he was just that—dead! But then, while his friends were gathered around him, presumably in prayer, he gets up and walks right back into the city and carries on with his life and mission right where he left off as though nothing ever happened.
Is Paul telling the truth when he tells the young believers, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God”? I believe he was. Besides the built-in difficulty of living here in a fallen world, there is the added difficulty of promised persecution as inspired by the hatred and vengeance of the enemy kingdom. Listen again to the advice of Peter: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:12-17). Thank you, Brother Peter...I needed that—again.