The part of Acts that we are looking at today is one of those great Biblical examples of the providence of God at work getting people where God wants them to go. But we will also see another example here of how the path of God is often, from our perspective, a very convoluted path. God had promised Paul that he would preach in Rome. Being in prison with assassins waiting outside made this unlikely. Providentially, Paul’s nephew, being in the right place at the right time, heard about the plot to assassinate Paul and reported it to the Romans. So, Paul was sent to Caesarea to stand trial before the Governor Felix, and he went with a whole army as his entourage to protect him! Paul must have thought he was ‘home free’. However, Felix didn’t know what to do with Paul and so he left Paul in prison for two years. Two years! Paul must have been wondering what was going on. What about God’s promise of going and testifying in Rome? This scenario is so common in the Bible. People receive a promise but then the pathway to the fulfilment of that promise is convoluted and drawn out beyond anything they would have expected. Joseph languished in slavery and then in prison for fourteen years. Moses waited forty years in the desert before saving Israel. David was anointed as King but then was driven into the wilderness for eight years. The way is always more convoluted than you think. But God will be with you on the journey.
Ask God to clarify your sense of purpose and to draw you closer to him.
Read Acts 23:23 – 24:27
