God can always turn things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. So, if you are doing his will and fulfilling his purpose for you, don’t worry. Don’t fret. Trust that God will see you through to your destination.
12 The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. 14 They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”
16 But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul. 17 Paul called for one of the Roman officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”
23 Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. 24 Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.” 25 Then he wrote this letter to the governor:
26 “From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
27 “This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety. 28 Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him. 29 I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law—certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. 30 But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.”
31 So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris. 32 They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.
Acts 23:12-17, 23-32 NLT
The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
Proverbs 21:1 NLT
I am amazed, but not surprised, by the power and sovereignty of God over the great commission. We can look back and see God do this over and over throughout history. The example I always think of is the way God changed the heart of King Darius at the time of Ezra to favour the people of Israel. God has the power to channel streams and rivers where he chooses, and so also can he do so with the human heart.
As we read the story of Paul’s rescue in Acts 23, we see this power of God in action through the bravery of Paul’s nephew and then in the heart and action of this Roman commander, whose actions assured Paul’s journey to safety in Caesarea.
Although it isn’t mentioned before Paul’s conversion to Christianity or in his first calling by God, his Roman citizenship turns out to be an essential part of this story. There are some theories about how Paul’s family ended up with Roman citizenship, whether they were freed Roman slaves for example, but the outcome is to God’s glory.
God can always turn things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Paul wrote that in Romans 8:28, but he lived it over and over. If Paul wasn’t a Roman citizen, that commander might not have done anything for him.
But God’s purpose would not be thwarted by even forty people who bound themselves with an oath to kill his servant.
Let that soak in. If you are doing the will of God and fulfilling God’s purpose for your life today, you do not have to worry about anything. Nothing will happen to you outside of God’s sovereign will and protection over you.
Rest in that promise today!
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 