As I was reading this chapter I had to wonder "why, Lord" did Paul have to stay in prison all this time for ........ well for nothing?! I tried to think of the many good things that happened while he was kept away from being free and here are a few I came up with:
1. He wrote a lot of scripture while he was in prison. He wasn't under "lock down" but had some freedom and he was visited by friends who 'took care of him'. So, free room and board while he wrote!
2. His disciples had to do the work he was doing so all their training proved to be good!! And the people they ministered to had to receive them as if they were we Paul coming to preach to them. It was a real training time in the life of the church and the next generation had to rise up and take their place. God has His way of doing things!
3. Paul had a chance to share the Gospel with people no one would have had a chance to touch if they hadn't been in prison. Like the Felix and his wife - who was a Jew. Many seeds were planted during this time.
Maybe you can think of more good things that came out of Paul's prison time?
BTW - Happy Monday!
2 comments:
What spoke to me was that NOTHING stopped Paul from witnessing for Christ! How many little hiccups in the road have stalled me/us in my/our witnessing for the Lord?
Verse 25 says, “As he (Paul) reasoned with them (Felix & Drusilla) about righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come Felix was terrified. ‘Go away for now,’ he replied, ‘When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.’” Felix enjoyed the Word of God until it touched something in his life that needed changing. I find Felix’s reply very interesting . . . “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” We all know people who are playing the “more convenient” game with God. Maybe we have even played that game with God. Hopefully, people in that mindset will still be on the earth at the “more convenient” time. In the meantime, we intercede for those God puts on our hearts, and we continue to plant the seed of the Word of God. Never know, we may be the one God uses at that “more convenient” time to pray the prayer of salvation or deliverance or healing or whatever with that person or persons, Christian or unbeliever!
That also got my attention - how many seeds of the Good News were sown during this one prison stay ... the multiple times Felix, for one, visited Paul. He might have been hoping to get some monetary bribes out of Paul, but like you both said already, the Word of God was spoken to him.
That's an encouragement to me to speak God's Word to people who might be seeking something else - but in the process, those seeds are planted.
There have been times where we've taken food to someone; and before we left their home, we shared the Gospel and prayed with them, perhaps even received a promise from them that they would attend church next Sunday -- only to never hear from them again. In instances where i've been involved, i've had to just put them in the hands of God and believe that the seed sown will be watered and eventually harvested by someone, and that i will seem them again in heaven.
Angel Food Saturdays are another great example of people coming to have a physical need met and the seed being sown. What an awesome opportunity!
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