Thoughts

We see the beginning of Paul's first missionary journey in chapter 13. It's important to note that they did not begin this journey based on their own ideas. They were called by the Holy Spirit to this work. And then, the church at Antioch fasted, prayed, laid hands on them and sent them on their way.

Everything was done according to the leading of the Lord.

And yet, they did not have success in every place. Far from it, in fact. But notice what they did in verse 51, after they were run out of Antioch of Pisidia:

"So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium." Acts 13:51 NIV

In shaking the dust off their feet, they were saying they didn't want to take anything of that city with them. They didn't take the rejection of the people of the city personally, and they didn't doubt God's call on them. They just moved along to the next town. 

Too often, beloved, when we feel called to do something for the Lord, we begin with stars in our eyes. We think that if God has called us, then we will have nothing but success. And when resistance comes, or when we experience what we interpret as failure, we withdraw from the work, thinking that we must have misinterpreted God's call, because if He was in it, we would have success. 

To be sure, maybe we did misinterpret the call. Often times, we do get excited about something and think that our enthusiasm is from God, when actually it's just our own emotions. That discussion is for another day.

The takeaway here, beloved, is that even when we are doing God's will, or perhaps I should say, especially when we are doing God's will, we should expect resistance. Why? Because the enemy does not want the cause of Christ to advance. We are in a spiritual battle when we are laboring for the Lord. But we are not in the battle alone. If God has called us, He is with us. And if He is for us, who can be against us? In other words, it doesn't matter if we have opposition, because God's purposes will always prevail. Sure, there may be skirmishes, but those are the times when we should rejoice, because it is then that we have confirmation that we are on the right track.

Today's Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 13 NIV, Ch. 14 NLT

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