Progress through Adversity

Sometimes we can get stifled in our desired progress because of the adversity that comes our way. Paul was an exception to this. He did not focus on the adversity which came against him and his work. He focused upon God and what he believed the Holy Spirit wanted him to do and went in what direction he felt the Holy Spirit lead. Let’s look at some examples.

Once Paul returned to Antioch from the Jerusalem Council, he wrote his epistle to the Galatians. He wanted to let the Gentile believers know of their Christian liberty which had been validated by the Jerusalem Council and to refute those who were insisting they as Gentile believers first had to become Jews. He called these people Judaizers as they were teaching that a Gentile could not become a Christian if they did not first become a Jewish proselyte. These were likely those Jews who had followed him on his first missionary journey to get those in Lystra to turn on Paul and stone him. This thought process was true for many Jewish Christians in Jerusalem as well. While he and Barnabas returned to Antioch, these Jews had gone to the same churches he had visited to refute what Paul had told them. The letter of Galatians was Paul’s rebuttal to defend his apostolic role which God himself had bestowed upon him and to let them know that salvation is by faith alone apart from works: “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Ga 2:15-16).

Three years after his first missionary journey, Paul began his second in 50 AD, but with great controversy as to who would be his companion. He wanted to take Barnabas with him again, but Barnabas was adamant that John Mark would accompany them. Yet, Paul was adamant that they not take him. This caused a split between them and Paul wound up taking Silas (Ac 15:39-41). Barnabas took John Mark and set sail for Cyprus. We don’t know the destinations of the journey of Barnabas and John Mark, but we do know that Paul and Silas go through Syria into Cilicia revisiting the churches Paul established on his first missionary journey. When they got to Lystra, it was found that Timothy was well respected by the believers there. Paul asked Timothy to accompany him and Silas on their journey and he did. Because Timothy was half-Jewish, he encouraged Timothy to become circumcised so that he could better minister to the Jewish citizens in the towns in which they visited (Ac 16:1-5).

Timothy traveled with them throughout Phrygia and Galatia, territories in what we today know as the country of Turkey. The Holy Spirit prevented Paul from preaching in other provinces in this area at this time. Instead, he had a vision of a Macedonian man asking for help while he was staying in Troas, a city on the western shore of this area. This is also the time that he meets Luke who accompanies Paul on his journey. Taking his dream as a sign from the Holy Spirit, they sailed to the Grecian coast and wound up in the city of Philippi (Ac 16:6-12).

This is two-fold lesson for us. God does not require us to do everything. Just as God had someone else in mind to minister to these other regions where Paul was not allowed to go, God sometimes restricts our reach as well. Also, we need to heed the leading of the Holy Spirit which will then yield the outcome God has in mind for us.

In Philippi, Paul and company met Lydia who accepted Christ from their teaching and provided lodging for them (Ac 16:13-15). The people of the church established here became dear friends of Paul and often supported him—both monetarily as well as prayerfully. While here, he delivered a woman from possession by a soothsayer demon. Her handler got very angry and falsified charges to have Paul and Silas placed in prison. While in prison, God sent an earthquake which allowed Paul to minister to the prison warden. Both he and his whole household became Christians. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, the officials became worried Paul might bring charges against them for putting him in prison without a trial. If he did, they would be in big trouble, so they tried to smooth things over and asked him to leave their city (Ac 16:16-40).

Paul, Silas, and Timothy moved on to Thessalonica where Paul preached in the synagogue there for several weeks. Thessalonica was a Roman city but also had a large Jewish population with a total population of around 200,000 people. Not far from this city stood Mt. Olympus which accounted for the city’s devotion to many of the Greek pantheon of gods. Yet, this did not decrease the people’s hunger for what Paul was preaching to them. Because so many people were listening to Paul, the Jewish leaders became jealous of him and created a riot and blamed it on Paul. The believers there hid Paul, Silas, and Timothy and sent them out of the city at nightfall (Ac 17:1-10).

They then entered the city of Berea where the people were very receptive to Paul’s teachings, but the Jews from Thessalonica went to Berea and stirred up false accusations against Paul. The believers there escorted Paul to Athens, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. Once in Athens, Paul sent for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens (Ac 17:11-15).

In Athens, Paul preached to the people in Athens about the monument he discovered within the city which was dedicated to An Unknown God. Seeing their religiosity, he used the platform of the Areopagus, a place for debate about various topics, as a way to explain to them that Jesus Christ was the Unknown God whom they needed to know. Several people, including some of prominence, accepted what he said and became converted (Ac 17:16-34).

After leaving Athens, he entered Corinth and met Aquilla and Pricillia. Both Aquilla and Paul had the profession of tent making in common, which caused a quick bond between them as well as them also being believers. They had come to Corinth because Claudius Caesar had ordered all Jews to leave Rome (Ac 18:1-4).

Paul spent a year and a half here in Corinth because God revealed to him that no harm would come to him, and many would come to Christ. Some tried to bring charges against Paul, but the proconsul of the region did not take them seriously (Ac 18:5-17).

Would we be so calm as Paul seemed to be during such struggles? He had a very tight relationship with God and the Holy Spirit who were able to quell his fears and anxiety. Feeling the confidence the Holy Spirit gave him allowed him to continue without fearing the outcome. May we be able to do the same.

Next time, we’ll look at how what Paul was doing was all part of God’s plan and how he had been working on this plan for a very long time—even before Paul was ever on the scene. I hope you join me for that discussion.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens