#13 | Take Time to Think
Read: Acts 8:1-25
Meditate on your own:
- Find the conjunctions/transition words in the passage (i.e., for, and, nor, but, then, now, etc.). How does the author use them to highlight certain things in the story and move it forward?
- What do you notice about the characters in this passage, both named (i.e., Philip) and unnamed (i.e., the crowds)? What do they do?
- How does this section relate to what has happened already in Acts? Why do you think Luke includes it?
- What verse/phrase stands out to you?
- What truth about God or mankind do you think you can draw from this?
- Where do you see other parts of the Bible saying the same thing?
- What are the implications of that truth? What would be opposite to that?
- How is this good news, both for you and for others? Who needs to hear it?
- What does this reveal about your own heart? What do you need to repent of? What do you need to ask God for?
Consider
While we might not say it out loud, many Christians generally expect to be enjoying things like health, wealth, comfort, and happiness. Thus, we tend to see things like suffering and trials as punishment and evidence of God’s displeasure with us, or worse, his lack of interest in us. When faced with them, we work frantically to appease God’s apparent wrath, desperate to return to our comfortable life. But what should we make of the “great persecution” that breaks out against the Jerusalem church in Acts 8?
Everything seemed to be going so well, yet suddenly Christians are being stoned to death and others are being thrown in jail while the rest are forced to leave everything and flee. Was God displeased with them or neglecting them? Quite the opposite. Jesus had promised that his people would be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth,” and here, God was directing the sinful desires of men to carry out his good purposes. If this seems out of character, it is exactly what happened at the cross (Acts 4:25-28; cf. Prov. 21:1). God is totally in control, and so he can promise to work all things for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). This isn’t to say that sin doesn’t have consequences. It does, sometimes even physical consequences (1 Cor. 11:30). Nor is it to say that we should not seek to alleviate the suffering in our lives or the lives of those around us. Generally, we should (John 13:34). Rather, it is to say that suffering and trials in the life of a Christian are not indications of God’s wrath or neglect.
On the cross, Jesus took unto himself every sin of those who would trust in him and drank every last drop of God’s wrath against them. Thus, in him, there is no more wrath; instead, everything that God does towards his children is always mercy! Suffering and trials are not indications of God’s wrath; they are instruments that God wields to bring about his good purposes in the world and in the lives of the children that he loves. God nowhere promises physical health, material wealth, or happiness apart from the joy of the Lord, but he does promise himself, and if the Good Shepherd is our shepherd, we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). How are you tempted to not trust God (whether his love, forgiveness, control, provision, etc.) when you think about or are going through suffering and trials? Take time to remind yourself of what is actually true about God by praying through Scripture.
Pray:
Use the acronym IOUS, turning the prayers of the Psalmist into your own.
Incline my heart to you and not to prideful gain or any false motive!
Psalm 119:36
Open my eyes to behold wonderous things out of your Word.
Psalm 119:18
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Psalm 86:11
Satisfy me with your steadfast love.
Psalm 90:14
