Acts 16 - Spirit leads, I'll go!

This first section in Acts 16 includes an act that was done that I’ve heard a lot of debate and discussion over. Timothy is chosen to go with Paul to continue to preach the gospel and minister, but Paul decides to circumcise him first. It is interesting to me that this happens just a few chapters after Paul gets done defending why the gentiles didn’t need to be circumcised, so it’s worth giving some prayer to. As I look at the passage, I think the important piece that sticks out to me is that the decision to be circumcised was, in my opinion, made as a way to connect with and relate to the Jews that he and Paul would be encountering, and it wasn’t in any way an effort to earn his salvation and it wasn’t anything that was necessary for Timothy to accept the message of grace. Paul stood up strongly against the Jews that were saying a gentile must do these things to be saved, but now he encourages Timothy to do something to be able to relate and connect with the Jews. For me, this serves as a reminder that there is nothing that I need to physically do to be saved, but there are many things that I need to do to connect with people and help reach them. Paul, who later writes, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”, understood this concept incredibly well. Where in my life am I not making any effort to relate to people? How am I appearing different or separate or stand-offish that doesn’t allow me the opportunity to share the message of grace with people? What needs to change?

Twice in the next 5 verses the Holy Spirit either prevents them from going somewhere or calls out to them and invites them. Obviously these 5 verses do not happen in 5 minutes, but rather days and weeks, but this is just another example of how in tune Paul, and I assume Timothy, was with the Spirit. This is how I want my life to be! As I seek where to go, who to talk to, what to say, that the Spirit would either prevent me or invite me. As I feel like I am growing in the Spirit, I feel like those conversations are happening more often, and it’s so freeing to be able to give decisions and directions up to God and just let Him have them, but I’ve got a long ways to go and a lot more to give up!

The story of Lydia’s conversion, at least to me, serves as a reminder to always be ready to proclaim the name of Jesus and also be willing to roll with changes that come up. Paul was going out by the river because he thought it was a place of prayer. I assume that phrase is included because it, in fact, wasn’t what he thought it would be. So, rather than being upset or grumpy because something wasn’t what he thought it was, he sat down and had a conversation. And, as Paul typically did, he went right to discussing things of eternal value. How easily do I let things, silly stupid little things, derail my train of thought or my mood for the moment or the day? I have found out in youth ministry that you have to be flexible and willing to adapt on the go, and I feel like I do that in ministry fairly well, but for some reason that doesn’t translate to home. Even as I sit here and type I am fighting the battle of letting the struggles I just had with my 2 year-old and 4 year-old bog me down and affect the rest of my night. Paul never did that, he always pressed on because his moods were not dependent upon situations, his countenance and character was fully dependent on God. When we live that way, little things won’t bother us as much and big deals won’t seem as big anymore. Having constant communication through the Spirit enables us to realize how big of a God we have and how little our problems are. In other words, it puts things back into their proper perspective. I need that reminder often!

Paul’s encounter with the slave girl is another event that happens in the Bible that I can easily relate to as the kind of thing that seems to happen a lot now as well. Not the slave girl and the demons part, but the fact that Paul tries to be the nice guy and tries to do this girl a favor and ends up getting wrongly accused and gets in trouble. It seems like far too often the person that tries to come in and help, or the person that tries to do things the right way, ends up being the one getting blamed for things they didn’t do and gets a hard time for it. The temptation can quickly become to just stop doing anything nice, to stop putting yourself out there for others. And while I can easily fall into that trap, God calls us to a different standard than that. He asks us to ignore the potential consequences, to not focus on the negative that could come about, and to just reach out and help people. Paul’s helping of this girl got him beaten with rods and thrown in prison, but I guarantee he wasn’t worried about that happening when he ordered the slave out and he wasn’t lamenting over what happened when he was sitting in jail. Paul had, again, the proper perspective. As he lived by the Spirit, he responded to what the Spirit prompted him to do and took whatever the consequences were in stride. As I continue to read about Paul’s journey and his life, I just keep hearing in the back of my head this echo that I mentioned a few chapters ago: “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”. I need to imitate this guy Paul as he clearly lived out what Jesus wanted him to!

The next section in Acts 16 is a beautiful portrayal of what the message of Jesus brings, life. The jailer was ready to kill himself because he was sure the prisoners were gone, he would have been in complete and utter despair, ready to take his life and end it all, and all of a sudden he hears those words of life, “don’t harm yourself…”. Wow immediately what comes to my mind is all the times I’ve been in that situation, in that frame of mind. Not in a frame of mind of actually considering hurting myself, but in that mood of despair and confusion and pain. And, in each one of those circumstances, without fail, in some fashion I’ve heard those words of life, “don’t harm yourself.” I’ve heard those words from Jesus, “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” There are so many emotions tied to those times in my life, emotions that are still so real and tangible today. From the hurt and the pain and the confusion and the helplessness to the joy and the relief and the overwhelming feeling of humility as I wondered, after Jesus had rescued me from that place, why He would do that for a sinner like me. God’s Word is filled with these words of life, ready to rescue us from those dark places, and we need to hold onto those words, we need to fill up with those words.

God thank you for that reminder through the text in the book of Acts tonight, that reminder of how you have filled me up over and over and over again, when I needed it most and didn’t deserve a bit of it. Those words brought life to the jailer and your Word brings life to me. Father help me to cling to and hold onto those words much tighter than I ever have before, knowing that they will comfort me, heal me, provide for me, strengthen me, and sustain me no matter what I face on this earth.

This last passage of Acts 16 has always really intrigued me. Paul, having been delivered from his stay in prison, almost seems to rub it in the faces of the magistrates and the people in charge by making them come apologize and walk them out of the jail. I’ll be honest I don’t have any real significant truths that God is teaching me through this part of the chapter other than justice was served. Paul was released, the people of the town were revealed to be in the wrong, justice was served. I take great comfort in knowing that justice will be served for all those that have wronged God and His church, but I also still struggle when I think justice should be served now rather than later. Paul got to see justice served, and I will too someday!