“But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome,” – Acts 23:11
This was a painful and frustrating time for Paul. He was under arrest and uncertain of his fate. The bottom line is that the Jews wanted him dead – only that they did not have anything warranting a death sentence. Here he was in prison for professing the truth. On his own he was probably in despair and actually afraid because of the situation he found himself in.
No man could rescue him here. No man could comfort him under these circumstances. But the Lord Jesus himself showed himself to Paul. Him alone could give Paul the courage he needed. He knows what we are going through. He knows our thoughts and He knows the intents of our hearts. He is the one to give us the rightful words of encouragement at any given time.
Sometimes we go through situations and we wish to have a certain answer. Sometimes we wish we could be delivered from the situation. Sometimes we wish we could be taken out, removed from the situation. We feel like we are better off without undergoing that situation. We worry about our own wellbeing. We worry about our own safety. We put our own interests ahead of anyone else.
There is something we can learn from Paul, a man who fought the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ. This is a man who devoted his life for the gospel since meeting Christ. This is “a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the Gospel of God.” He faced so many trials and tribulations but he was not interested to save his life in the midst of every tough encounter with opposition.
When Paul was in need of comfort the Lord was there to say, “Be of good cheer, Paul.” Regardless of the chains the Lord was there to say “Be of good cheer, Paul.” When there was no visible sign of relief the Lord was there to cheer him up.
Perhaps Paul could have wished for a miracle that will shake off the chains, open the doors for him and lead him out of the prison. But no; the Lord had a different game plan. In as much as the Lord was cheering him up, He was practically telling Him that he will stay in chains much longer.
The fascinating thing about this encouragement is that the Lord is revealing an assignment He has for Paul. Most importantly is that Paul proved his worthiness to carry out this assignment to testify for Jesus in Rome. He had a good track record for testifying for Jesus in Jerusalem. So Jesus encouraged him by saying that what brought Paul to jail is what he will have to continue doing even in Rome. Could it get tougher than that?
Paul was dedicated to ensure that whatever happens his conduct is worthy of the gospel of Christ. He bore witness of Jesus in Jerusalem and he was arrested, falsely accused of causing a rebellion amongst the Jews. It does not matter what life situations you are going through, you have to give testimony about the Lord Jesus. The Lord has pulled you through other tough situations and you trusted in Him. You will have to trust Him again.
You may be going through different stages in life, where life seems to be tough but you have to know that the Lord is with you and watching over you. He is keeping track of the way you conduct yourself. Do not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Just testify of the horn of our salvation.
No comments:
Post a Comment