READING: Job 32-33, Acts 14
“They found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns called Lystra and Derbe, and to the surrounding countryside.”
Acts 14:6
I assume that most of my readers have little understanding of persecution. Believers around the world face that reality, but I personally don’t know what persecution really is. Were I to face it, I think I would both want to run (to escape it) and to be willing to die (if that’s what God demands). I suspect that’s the tension in which some global believers live today.
That’s also the tension found in today’s reading in Acts 14. In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas found people open to the gospel, but they also faced Jews and Gentiles alike rallying troops against them. The believers remained in the city for some time, but the opposition grew strong enough that they eventually fled to Lystra and Derbe. At least in that situation, that choice to flee was apparently the right move. Paul and Barnabas thus lived to continue their work in the Lycaonian towns, where “they kept evangelizing” (Acts 14:7). Much like Paul had previously fled Damascus under persecution (Acts 9:25), he and Barnabas left the enemies in Iconium.
When they arrived in Lystra, however, trouble followed them. There, Jews from Antioch and Iconium came to stir up the crowds, and they stoned Paul. Indeed, “they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead” (Acts 14:19). Apparently, they so beat him that they were convinced they had killed him. God gave him strength, though, and Paul “got up and went into the town” before heading to Derbe the next day (Acts 14:20). While God clearly protected Paul in this situation from death, He did not allow the apostle to avoid painful persecution. There was no leaving this city before the rocks fell on Paul. Not this time.
In one case, God led Paul to flee; in another case, He left Paul in the bullseye of his opponents. In both situations, though, God was in control.
Our calling is to trust Him in either one should we face persecution.
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God for believers like Paul who model faith and obedience for us.
- Pray that you will trust God regardless of what you face.
PRAYER: “God, I want to trust You in all situations. Help me, please.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Job 34-15, Acts 15:1-21