Go back to the moment in time when you got saved. I recall that moment as if it was only yesterday. It was a truly a moment of I wasn’t saved to being a child of God: a follower of Christ. You don’t just ease into your salvation. It is a lucid moment of deliberate decision. When Christ reveals himself, clearing the fog of sin, and forcing you to make a choice. Accept or deny.
Paul had been in Asia Minor, but God in his sovereignty stopped Paul and sent him to Western Europe. It was there that Paul and Silas encountered a woman named Lydia in the city of Philippi. She was a businesswoman, likely of means. More importantly, she is described as a “worshiper of God.” She was a Gentile, but not Jewish proselyte. She was a seeker. She heard Paul’s Gospel message and was saved and baptized. Can you imagine the proverbial high Paul and Silas were feeling. Much like when we first get saved. We are on fire, ready to go full-bore for Christ. But Satan doesn’t let us off that easy. While he may have lost us, he will do everything he can to trip us up.
Not long after Lydia’s conversion, Paul and Silas encounter a “fortune teller” who told the crowds who they were, becoming a distraction to the point where she became “annoying.” In response Paul cast the spirit that was in her out, where she then lost her “psychic ability.” Long story short, she was a source of revenue for the men who owned her, and they weren’t particularly happy about losing this source of income. They complained and Paul and Silas were beaten and put in jail. They went from an amazing start of Lydia’s conversion to now being in jail. More than enough to discourage anyone. But yet Paul and Silas never lost hope. Verse 42 tells us they were praying and praising God. And then a miracle happened, and the prison doors were opened. Ultimately the jailer and his family were converted due to the testimony of Paul and Silas. And when Paul and Silas faced magistrates, they were exonerated and told to leave. These verses capture a great lesson, and that is to never faulter in our trust in God the calling he has on each one of our lives. We’ll have peaks and valleys that will run the gamut of our emotions and will, but when we go to our “go to”…God, he will see us through. Don’t let the challenges of the moment throw us off course, for he is faithful.
Paul had been in Asia Minor, but God in his sovereignty stopped Paul and sent him to Western Europe. It was there that Paul and Silas encountered a woman named Lydia in the city of Philippi. She was a businesswoman, likely of means. More importantly, she is described as a “worshiper of God.” She was a Gentile, but not Jewish proselyte. She was a seeker. She heard Paul’s Gospel message and was saved and baptized. Can you imagine the proverbial high Paul and Silas were feeling. Much like when we first get saved. We are on fire, ready to go full-bore for Christ. But Satan doesn’t let us off that easy. While he may have lost us, he will do everything he can to trip us up.
Not long after Lydia’s conversion, Paul and Silas encounter a “fortune teller” who told the crowds who they were, becoming a distraction to the point where she became “annoying.” In response Paul cast the spirit that was in her out, where she then lost her “psychic ability.” Long story short, she was a source of revenue for the men who owned her, and they weren’t particularly happy about losing this source of income. They complained and Paul and Silas were beaten and put in jail. They went from an amazing start of Lydia’s conversion to now being in jail. More than enough to discourage anyone. But yet Paul and Silas never lost hope. Verse 42 tells us they were praying and praising God. And then a miracle happened, and the prison doors were opened. Ultimately the jailer and his family were converted due to the testimony of Paul and Silas. And when Paul and Silas faced magistrates, they were exonerated and told to leave. These verses capture a great lesson, and that is to never faulter in our trust in God the calling he has on each one of our lives. We’ll have peaks and valleys that will run the gamut of our emotions and will, but when we go to our “go to”…God, he will see us through. Don’t let the challenges of the moment throw us off course, for he is faithful.