By Sue Desmarais
I ended last week's post on leaving a legacy by sharing my desire to one day hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt25:21) and since, I’ve been reading each chapter with interests, trying to discover the qualities needed to have an effectual ministry in this day and age. After all, I know times have changed, but our Lord hasn’t, and neither has His call to all of us found in Matthew 28:18-20!
Paul was hands-down the greatest missionary in all of the New Testament church and I was determined to see if I could learn his secret, and O goodness girls, I’ve found it!! It’s hidden within the chapter, but before the big reveal, I want to share a bit of how I found it!!
You see, I’m not always good at being, “intentional about my good intentions”. What I mean by that is, I may tell you I have this tremendous desire to hear the Lord say, “Well done…”, but when obstacles and opposition arise, I’ll be the first to rethink my goals, but not Paul! After he and Barnabas were run out of Antioch of Pisidia,they simply, “shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.” - 13:51
Now I know, one could argue that they had seen and experienced great success in that city and that, “the Lord’s message spread throughout that region!” which only spurred them on. BUT, once more here in chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas see that with success comes great opposition and once more, “they fled to the region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area.”- Acts 14:6
There seems to be a pattern forming: Arrive -> Preach -> Witness Conversions -> Oppositions arises -> Move on to the next town…
That is until 14:19-20,
“Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.”
Did you catch it? I reached this point in the chapter and had to stop reading, and admit to myself and to the Lord that I think, had this been me at this point, The Lord and I would have had to have a talk, for I’m not certain I could have taken much more of the fierce persecution Paul and Barnabas were experiencing! And this was when the Lord showed me something I’ve never noticed before! - Paul Got Up!
Paul was
- Stoned
- Dragged out of town
- Believed to be dead
- BUT he got up!
- AND walked back into the same town!
- AND then started on a 60 mile journey the next morning!!
How can a person stoned and believed dead, get up and go on a sixty mile journey the next day!?
That’s when Paul’s own words came flooding into my mind…
“I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Phil 4:13
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure.” Phil 2:13
I can see now Paul knew exactly what he was talking about. No man can get up and keep going after being stoned and left for dead without God’s help, but Jesus has promised us that, “with God ALL things are possible”. Matthew 19:26 (emphasis mine)
I also understand now why Paul often referred to himself as the Lord’s “doulos” or bond-servant. A “doulos” is often defined as a slave, but it’s much more than that, in that the person volunteers to serve wholeheartedly, claiming to have no rights of their own. I looked up the definition once more in the Stong’s Greek dictionary and here’s some of what I found: A Doulos is
- one who worships God and submits to him
- the true worshippers of Christ are those whose agency God employs in executing his purposes
- So devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests,
- strenuously laboring for another's salvation,
I can clearly see Paul fitting this description, what I wonder most is, do I? Do you?