August 30, 2022

Passage Read: Acts 22-23
Meditation Verse: 23:11

Thought

The Lord intended for Paul to testify at Rome. That was a promise that Paul could bank on. Though the Spirit had warned that he would be bound in Jerusalem, and most of the believers who heard it tried to turn Paul away, Paul understood correctly that he was supposed to go to Jerusalem. The analysis of believers is not always accurate, and often based more on human compassion rather than the will of God. Peter and the disciples would have kept Jesus from the cross, but that was where He needed to go. Paul knew God intended him not only to be bound in Jerusalem, but also to testify concerning Jesus, both in Jerusalem and in Rome, and this was the path.

Application

Having such a promise is great comfort, especially when combined with advance knowledge of how things will happen. But even if God doesn't say how things will work out, knowing what He intends to do with a person is great comfort. Paul could trust that he would eventually testify in Rome, because God said so, even though people were trying to kill him and he was now a prisoner. It was actually all part of the plan to allow him to testify in Jerusalem and then Rome. Everything was going according to plan. The same is true for me, though I know neither the pathway not the destination, I can still trust that the Lord will take me exactly where He intends, even if things seem to be going in exactly the opposite direction.