“And the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”
Paul had been arrested by the Jewish council ostensibly for bringing a Gentile into the temple area. It was the night after his arrest that God spoke to Paul about why he was going through this treatment. This answers why Paul was willing to endure two years of wrongful trial, imprisonment and a tortuous sea voyage – It was God’s will. When we endure hardship we need to consider this text, because God is probably preparing us to carry out His will. God had a higher purpose for Paul in allowing him to endure the aforementioned hardships. Is it possible that God has a higher purpose in allowing us to endure hardships? Don’t dismiss this idea out of hand. God wants to use us and He always has a higher purpose for our lives. We can learn from Paul’s reaction to his hardships. The first thing that we need to consider is that Paul accepted God’s will. There is no indication that Paul hesitated to accept God’s will, no matter what it entailed. Paul was told to “be of good cheer,” or to “take courage,” for this was God’s means of getting him to Rome. He could have asked, “Lord, can’t you let me get to Rome without all of this hardship?” He just accepted the Lord’s will and courageously faced what he had to face in order to live out God’s will for his life. I don’t mean to imply that following God’s will always entails hardships, but we should learn to accept God’s will for our lives in spite of whatever hardships His will might involve. It’s not easy to accept that God’s will might mean hardship for us. Actually, we usually expect God’s will to take us from one blessing to another. But this is not always the reality. Paul is a good example here, and we might also think of Moses and what he had to go through to carry out God’s will. This could be said of countless others in the Bible, e.g., Abraham, Joseph, and all of the eleven true disciples of Jesus. Pray about accepting God’s will for your life if you haven’t already. The second thing that we need to consider is that Paul simply believed God. In Acts 27:25 in the midst of the storm at sea while on the voyage to Rome Paul told those with him: “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as He told me.” (God had earlier assured Paul that he would get to Rome in spite of the storm.) The only two choices that Paul had was to believe God or doubt him. Think of what he would have missed, and what we would have missed, if Paul had doubted God instead of believing Him. We, too, can believe God or doubt Him. Think of what we will miss in our lives if we doubt God instead of believing Him and realize His higher purpose for our lives. Think of what we will miss if we prefer the easy way instead of God’s way. The stakes were high for Paul to get to Rome God’s way. The stakes are also high for us to accept God’s way. (They are high for our families and churches as well.)The work of the kingdom of God will go on whether we accept God’s purpose for us, but we will miss the blessings that will come our way because of it. Consider this as you pray. The conclusion of the matter is that in his obedience Paul realized God’s higher purpose for his life. Paul went to Rome God’s way and great things were accomplished. Philippians 4:22 tells us why: “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” Paul won people around Caesar to Christ, who in turn carried the message to Rome and to other places in the world. Who knows what Jesus might use us to do for Him if we simply believe Him and obey Him? We will never know if we do not believe and act. Have you accepted God’s will for your life, and would you carry it out if it included hardships? Until you say “yes” to Jesus, you will not realize God's higher purpose for you. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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