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I invite you to read Acts 14, which shows an
extraordinary example of godly focus and determination by the
Apostle Paul. Paul and his friend Barnabas were going from place to
place preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verses 1-5 show them in
Iconium. We can know for sure that they were pleasing God because He
was performing miracles to confirm what they had preached and people
were accepting the message. However in verse 2 we see that
opposition came from the unbelieving Jews. This brings me to
a quick point. Whenever there is faith and belief, God works. At the
same time, Satan seeks to oppose the work of God through unbelief.
Paul and Barnabas had to be determined to continue preaching as they
were being fiercely opposed. In fact, the opposition reached a point
that they moved on to another city, Lystra. Don't think for a minute
though that they 'chickened out'. No - God;s will was accomplished
in Iconium, and there was work for His servants to do in another
town. Verses 8-17 show that God continued to use Paul and Barnabas.
In this case, a man lame from birth was miraculously healed. In
fact, the people thought Paul and Barnabas were gods as a result,
and started to worship them - calling Paul Hermes (their god of
speech) and Barnabas Zeus! However Paul and Barnabas demonstrated
wisdom in correcting the people and pointing them to God. They were
humble enough to give Him the glory instead of taking it for
themselves. However again we see opposition to God's work come from
the unbelieving Jews. They came from Iconium and persuaded the same
people who were praising Paul and Barnabas to nearly kill Paul. They
stoned Paul and dragged him out of town! Unbelievable! This shows
the fickleness of human nature. People can and do 'switch'. At times
love can turn to hate, praise to scorn very quickly. What happened
here with Paul reminds me of what Jesus went through. The same
people in Jerusalem who cried out "Hosanna - blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord" (John 12:13) were the same ones who shouted
"Crucify Him!" to have Him crucified on the cross (John 19:15).
As Paul lay there dying, disciples formed a circle around him, and
Paul got up miraculously. I believe something
supernatural/miraculous took place as that circle was being formed.
Paul was healed and restored. The Bible doesn't record any words
being spoken by the disciples. In the rough and tough times of life,
we need a circle formed around us. This is a circle of support,
whether it be emotional or spiritual or various other ways. We need
at least one person who can be there for us. One person in your life
can form a circle around you. In a physical sense this would be a
hug! Further still if you have no human person who can hug you, God
promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you.
As Paul got up, he showed faith in God and went back to the very
place he was nearly killed. Imagine that! He could have gotten up,
looked at his wounds and said, "that's it, I've had enough". No, he
actually went back to complete whatever he had to do in Lystra. Then
and only then did he move on from there to Derbe with Barnabas. Paul
didn't quit. Neither can we. There are certain situations in life
that we cannot run from. We must at times 'go back' as Paul did.
Certain situations and stages in life need to be resolved or
completed before we can move on. As Paul went into Lystra he was in
a sense telling the people who stoned him "Look you nearly killed
me, but here I am. You can't stop me from doing what God wants me to
do in this town!" Praise the Lord. He was focused and nothing could
stop him. In fact for the remainder of Acts 14, we see Paul and
Barnabas going back to all the various places they visited before,
setting up churches and encouraging other Christians.
This is a great example to us. We like Paul and Barnabas must press
on by faith to complete that which God would have us to do in our
lives.
