By the end of this chapter, Paul is in prison for two years. Ironically it may be the safest place for him. He's apparently stuck between a rock (Jews who want to kill him) and a hard place (in the custody of Roman authorities). It's one of those places where we think nothing good can happen, where we wonder why God is letting us get stuck there. We're wasting valuable time. If we could just get out of this hole, then we could make some progress.
But Paul makes plenty of progress right where he is. It just so happens that the governor's wife was interested in hearing about Jesus. So Felix -- who is holding Paul in custody -- comes regularly with his wife to listen to Paul tell them about Christ. Who knows what the implications of that were? History tells us that as time passed, more and more people in positions of great influence became followers of Christ. I wonder how many of them were led to Christ by their servants, their prisoners, or their slaves?
Sometimes God calls us to be the weed that grows through the concrete. In the most barren conditions, God can bring life. None of us would choose to be there, but it certainly doesn't mean God is through with us if we find ourselves there. In fact, it may mean that God is just getting ready to do His best stuff.
The old phrase that hindsight is always 20/20 comes to mind. It's easy to look on past circumstances and see the hand of God moving in our own or other's lives. Especially here. It is a probably a safe bet to say that if Paul had not been imprisoned, many of these letters might never have been written as they would have been delivered verbally in person and we wouldn't have the rich text of the New Testament that we do now. Yet I do not wish imprisonment or a price on anyone's head.
ReplyDeleteYet in the midst of trying times we so often quake, wail, or gnash or teeth about it. Why is it so hard to trust the heart of God? To believe that no matter the circumstance that He has our best interest at heart? That He loves us more than we can comprehend? This is as much a confession of my own failure in this area, as much as it is a question to anyone else.
Good insight, Pete. So much of the Old Testament was written around this theme: "remember what God did in the past, so you'll have confidence in Him now." I think that's the reason we have these stories. It's still hard to do, though.
ReplyDeleteShortly after I wrote the post, it seemed like the bottom fell out. I had a really tough day. Then I find out another Spring had a horrible event take place. Then another. Then another. It was a powerful reminder that we don't read scripture in a vacuum, and you can't write platitudes about it on this blog because real life happens and tests everything to see if it is true. I believe this post is true, even more than I did two days ago. God is not finished with us, even though the days are hard!