Today’s chapter is Acts 25

Tom writes:

Festus does not come off well in this chapter. He admits that he is holding Paul - a Roman citizen - without any real reason. His speeches feel duplicitous and egocentric. He is a bad Governor. When we talk about being a church like in Acts we tend to mean extraordinary wonders and the deep care for one another’s needs. We imagine a church so caught up in Kingdom Come that even the toilets smell like heaven. This is good; the Acts church was overflowing with heaven’s presence. But these chapters help us recognise that the early church also operated in a world where Satan is King and his lying nature is manifested in many malignant ways. The church experienced both a bit of heaven and a bit of hell. To expect the same is to really understand the Now and Not Yet of the Kingdom. This fallen world is the arena in which we fight our faith and we need to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Paul shows us the wisdom of serpents; he recognises the remit of his calling and focuses his efforts on keeping his ability to pursue that calling.

It must have been hugely frustrating for Paul to be held captive by these self-seeking, corrupt officials. Paul could so easily have used his time in prison fixating on the fickle and feckless Festus. He could have become a Very Angry Man who - when given a chance to speak - layed out all his grievances. But if anything, Paul seems to gain even greater clarity on his calling while he watches his life being frittered away by Festus. When he gets his chance to speak he actually uses it to get to Rome. Perhaps that was some of the good that God worked in Paul during those months and months in prison? Perhaps God uses delays in our lives - even delays that are unfair and frustrating - to help us find greater clarity over his calling on our lives. Maybe, sometimes, God uses slow times in our lives (or dare I say it, the plans of hell against us) to make us do what Jesus chose to do; to withdraw to lonely places to get more clarity from the Father about who he is and how he is asking us to contend for the coming of his Kingdom?

Question for reflection

How can frustration and delay help you gain greater clarity on what God is wanting to do with your life?

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Acts 25 - Thursday 7th March