One night in Corinth God spoke to Paul. He had been there for weeks trying to persuade the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah, but they were persistently rejecting his message. He must have been discouraged at this point. His efforts were not fruitless though. Eventually the synagogue leader and his entire household believed as well as many others. But Paul probably didn’t know this yet. So, he probably felt that he had gotten nowhere. Also, the threat of him being harmed was mounting and he would naturally have been afraid of suffering the same sorts of horrendous things he had suffered previously. Remember, he had been beaten and stoned before. He would be a bit traumatised by the thought of going through that again. So, at this point, he would have been thinking of giving up and moving on. This is when God speaks to him and tells him: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (18:9, 10). I think we all need to take these words to heart because we can get so nervous and afraid when we think about fulfilling God’s mission. We get overwhelmed, partly because we complicate things in our minds too much. God has prepared things for you to do that are within your reach and he has put in you what is needed for those occasions. So, relax! Walk with God and let the future come to you. You will find the path already prepared.
Entrust yourself to God’s plan and purpose for you.
Read Acts 18:1-17
