So often we read through the verses of the Bible and miss what it said—at least I do. I don’t know if it’s because we are so hurried—after all, there is only so much time before we have to head off to work or that unexpectedly scheduled early meeting, or rushing to get kids out the door.
But what we miss is amazing!
I may have mentioned a time or two that I am in a small group that is studying Acts this year. This has been an amazing experience all by itself. We are not going through commentaries; we are reading it chapter by chapter and discussing what we read. I had no idea I had missed so much.
At the beginning of the book, Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, was busy mass murdering. Brings to mind what we are facing in these days, doesn’t it? Saul witnessed the breathtaking death of Steven, who saw Jesus as rocks pelted him, and exclaimed, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
That didn’t faze Saul at all. Yet, a short time later, Saul was knocked off his horse and blinded as Jesus appeared to him as he rode on the road to Damascus to murder more people of The Way.
Well, that experience certainly turned Saul, the Jewish Pharisee, from his path. The next thing we know, Paul the Apostle begins his journey to know Jesus and become His mouthpiece. God said He would show Paul what he must suffer for Jesus’ sake.
One of those “showings” is found in Acts 14:19-20. Paul was stoned, dragged a space, and left for dead outside the city of Lystra (in modern Turkey). Then the Scriptures say the disciples gathered around him and he got up, went into the city for the night and left the next day for a long journey – on foot! – to the next town. To preach. That might take a bit of stamina?
But wait –
Just a few years before, Saul stood by while Steven was stoned. Steven’s body broke and he died. How could Paul be stoned, dragged, left for dead, and yet get up and travel on foot to another town to preach?
Stoning is painful. I’ve not been stoned, but I’ve been hit now and then by an errant rock while hiking or through some other activity. Who hasn’t? One rock hurts. What if many rocks were hurled at you? Not only would your blood flow, possibly your bones break, but what kind of internal injuries would you suffer?
Yet Paul got up and the next morning, traveled by foot for several miles and then preached. Wow.
Two Observations:
I wonder if Paul gave some thought that night to Steven? God took Steven home, but opened the heavens first. God miraculously healed Paul and sent him on his way to preach, right here on earth.
I wonder if the kind of supernatural prayer that the disciples did over Paul after his stoning, can move God to supernatural healing here? Can we unplug from our culture to pray this way? To act on God’s Word and His Presence continually?
Would we experience such miracles? I wonder if we’ll have the opportunity to find out?
“…strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God’” Acts 14:22.
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