Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Acts 13:1-15

 Acts 13:1-15


While the phrase may sound a bit odd at times, we must be “patient with God.” Perhaps we should say, “We must learn patience while waiting for God.” There is no doubt that Paul was the most influential missionary in the history of the church. He took the gospel places no one else did. He is the dominant character in the second half of the book of Acts. But we sometimes lose sight of an important aspect of his timeline. Saul was converted about the year 34 AD. He spent three years in the desert in a unique training program. Apart from a few mentions in Acts, he is all but invisible. It is almost as if this five-star recruit is benched and almost forgotten until verse two in chapter 13. This occurred about the year 48 AD. For about 14 years this remarkable talent was left unused. At the beginning of the chapter, Saul is one of five prophet/leaders in the church at Antioch. In verse two we find he is one of two being set aside for a special project, and it appears that he will be Barnabas’ assistant. By the time they finish at Paphos, the troop is called “Paul and his companions“. This is not about Paul pushing himself to the head of the band. Rather, it is about Paul being lifted up by God to fulfill his calling at the right time. 

We must not fail to notice the 14 years of being patient with God's plan and timing. For us the timeline is almost always now. We want to serve with the gifts and the talents we now have. We can’t imagine long delays as being part of God‘s plan. God’s timeline is never the same as ours until we reject our own timeline and adopt His timeline as our own. It takes a good deal of faith to wait. We, by waiting, are expressing a confidence both in God's plan and in His goodness and love. Our nature and our culture struggle with this because we want to be doing something great all of the time. The very idea of waiting is hard for us.

Patience is not just a passive, sluggish thing, but actively doing what is right in the opportunities that are given and serving where we are. For those 14 years, Saul waited, and when the call was issued, he was ready, having learned lessons that could only be learned in the waiting.

 "Lord, give me the Grace to wait well. AMEN"

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