Read Acts 9:26-31
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
I imagine that this must have been a difficult time for Saul. He has bravely taken on Jesus’ call with great zeal, alienating himself from those he must previously have been close to in the process. Now he has come to Jerusalem, still the main base for the group he has joined and, understandable, they are too frightened to meet him. Imagine, then, how grateful he must have been for the boldness and faithfulness of Barnabas – the encourager – as he takes the risk of not only welcoming Paul but recommending him to others too.
- Do you, like Barnabas, tend to give others the benefit of the doubt or do you generally assume the worst until proved otherwise? Is there anyone in your life at the moment that, if you’re really honest, you’re quite suspicious towards? If so, pray for this person and ask God to help you see more clearly the good things within them.
- What do you think would have happened if Barnabas hadn’t intervened here?
If you have a bit longer :-)
It is easy to assume that, having met with Jesus, Paul immediately plants lots of different churches, writes lots of incredible letters and becomes arguably the most influential Christian there has ever been… all overnight!
Importantly, however, having fled Jerusalem and headed back home, he then spends a lengthy period of time ministering in his hometown and surrounding regions. It is, in fact, not until over a decade has passed since his Damascus road experience that Paul goes out on his first “missionary journey.” He doesn’t then write his first, now canonized, letter for quite some time after that!
Regarding this lengthy period of preparation (albeit that he was still serving God, just more locally), a theologian called Blaiklock notes:
“The splendid deliberateness with which God forged His human tool is the great lesson of these years. Impatient men forget that God is not bound by time. His conversion was by far the most vital influence in Paul’s life. Ancestry, Pharisaic training, Hellenistic education, were fused by it into the character which the Holy Spirit formed and fashioned over the fourteen years of training. At length, in God’s good time, the door opened, and the events of half a lifetime assumed final and complete significance. So often with man’s days in Christ. The traveler breasts a last rise, looks back and sees the road behind, the reason for its bends and turnings, and its unerring movement to a goal. And in the vision the crooked places become straight and the rough places plain.”[1]
- Do you ever feel frustrated because God doesn’t seem to be doing things as fast as you would like? Is there anything we can learn from Paul’s story in this regard?
[1] Professor E.M. Blaiklock, “Acts,” pg. 90.
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