The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 11:19-21,
“Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”
I suspect many of us might feel something was not right if some misfortune as this befell the church today (the killing of Stephen). “Maybe God is not with us? Maybe Satan has the upper hand here?”
I am quite certain that many in the early church felt something was horribly wrong when Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death and the church was scattered. I think if I were in the circumstance recounted above, I would have been one of those wondering how such a thing could happen to God’s elect!
Clearly, from the advantage of having Luke’s account here in the book of Acts, we see God himself using these events to spread the gospel message to new geographic as well as demographic regions.
I know I couldn’t have seen it at the time, but from our vantage, with Luke's account, I can. “The Lord’s hand was with them”, whether it seemed that way or not.
To me this speaks volumes about our transcendent and sovereign God! He just may be doing things I don't understand to bring about the great things of his redemption of mankind.
I suspect many of us might feel something was not right if some misfortune as this befell the church today (the killing of Stephen). “Maybe God is not with us? Maybe Satan has the upper hand here?”
I am quite certain that many in the early church felt something was horribly wrong when Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death and the church was scattered. I think if I were in the circumstance recounted above, I would have been one of those wondering how such a thing could happen to God’s elect!
Clearly, from the advantage of having Luke’s account here in the book of Acts, we see God himself using these events to spread the gospel message to new geographic as well as demographic regions.
I know I couldn’t have seen it at the time, but from our vantage, with Luke's account, I can. “The Lord’s hand was with them”, whether it seemed that way or not.
To me this speaks volumes about our transcendent and sovereign God! He just may be doing things I don't understand to bring about the great things of his redemption of mankind.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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