Acts 23:11
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
Tag: God is there when we despair
The above passage gives us a look into how God deals with His servants and how he deals with us in our toughest hours. The verse is speaking about God’s message to Paul, who was now in prison, for the simply crime of speaking up for Christ. Prior to this verse, Paul has had had three attempts on his life. Paul was attempting to speak up for Christ and the Jewish leaders decided that this was wrong and they attempted to stone him. When Roman soldiers saw this they respected him, only to put him in their prison. Paul was alone and abandoned by everyone. He was locked up after being beaten. Yet, here is why God is called the God of all comfort. Paul would actually designate God as the God of All comfort, later, in his letter to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
Perhaps this scene in Acts is where Paul learned this truth ... he certainly would experience it. Notice that God steps into his life and “stood by him.” We don’t know what that means. We don’t know if physically Christ appeared to him, or if this was just real audible voice he heard, or a voice in his head. All we know is that via the Spirit of God, Paul felt the presence of God. That is a marvelous truth that faith can bring to us. God had promised to never leave us and, at this exact moment in Pauls life, God was present with him. He then heard, “Take Courage.” This is the exact words Jesus said the the disciples when they were sat fearful in a boat, in the storm at sea:
Mark 6:50
for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The phrase, “Take heart” is the exact same Greek word used to speak to Paul in the above verse, but translated here, “Take courage.” It is unique to Jesus in the New Testament. It simply is Christ speaking to our lives to tell us that we can have courage in the midst of a storm of life. Paul was abandoned and he was, by faith, to trust Christ when He says, “Take courage.” His “courage” would have nothing to do with his circumstances, but everything to do with who “stood by him.” His strength was not because the situation was about to improve, but because Christ was with him in the situation. In fact, Pauls next journey would be worse. He was not only going to speak up for Christ in Jerusalem, but would be taken to Rome to “testify” there also. Paul’s life was about to get more intense. Never-the-less, he was to be encouraged because God knew his life circumstance and knew what tomorrow was to bring forth. Paul was not start “future tripping” about his life. He was made aware of it, but he could also rejoice that the God who designed the future, would be standing beside him for each step he took. As believers we often freak ourselves out by “future tripping” about what might happen. God is telling Paul (and us) that the future is known to God and that we are still, in obedience, trust Him. God knows the path we take and is there to carry us through the path He designs for us.
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