Journey through Acts
For the past few weeks I have been trying to make my way through the book of Acts. I can't say it's been a riveting read but two things stood out to me. The first is that God often seems to choose the unlikeliest of people to do his work. Paul was chosen to go from city to city, preaching the word of God to the Jews and Gentiles but he was not even an "ordinary" believer - he was someone who had gone out of his way to persecute and torment Christians. And yet God chose him. I wonder what the other believers thought. I could hazard a guess, but then perhaps "ordinary" believers these days could be likened to the Pharisees and Jews in Paul's day. They abided by the usual customs and appeared to do things the "right" way but were also judgemental and rejected God's word through Paul.
I was thinking about how perhaps this was also the case with celebrities like Kanye West. They have behaved in ways that seem contrary to what a lot of us would think is right. They have said things that have hurt people and which may even stand diametrically opposite to what many of us think. But who are we to judge if they now appear to preach the word of God? Who are we to say that God has not worked something out in their lives. I think while it is important to remain vigilant to false prophets, we should also perhaps be open to unexpected things.
The second thing that came to me, through the book of Acts, was that an encounter with God often inflicts us in some way. When Jacob wrestled with God (Gen 32) he ended up with a dislocated hip. When Saul-Paul had his encounter with God he went temporarily blind. It is easy to ask God to meet us where we are at. I often pray for an encounter, because I want to sit at His feet, I want to feel His presence, I want to live in His Grace, but what price would I be willing to pay? Loving God, and being his disciple has never been a gold ticket to a cruisey life. We still have to endure the ups ad downs. We still have to deal with the difficulties of sharing our space with other living things. Really, the best (and perhaps only) way to experience and live out a peaceful life is to focus on him, so that we are able to respond to any circumstance through a God lens. How would He see a person, what would He say? What would He think? How would He react? It is not always easy to respond in a Godly manner. I dont always want to smile. I am not always interested in what others have to say. Sometimes I just want to be alone with my thoughts, but I hope that by drawing more from His well and by going deeper into His word, I will be able to more often die to myself, that I might live in Him.
Love, S.
I was thinking about how perhaps this was also the case with celebrities like Kanye West. They have behaved in ways that seem contrary to what a lot of us would think is right. They have said things that have hurt people and which may even stand diametrically opposite to what many of us think. But who are we to judge if they now appear to preach the word of God? Who are we to say that God has not worked something out in their lives. I think while it is important to remain vigilant to false prophets, we should also perhaps be open to unexpected things.
The second thing that came to me, through the book of Acts, was that an encounter with God often inflicts us in some way. When Jacob wrestled with God (Gen 32) he ended up with a dislocated hip. When Saul-Paul had his encounter with God he went temporarily blind. It is easy to ask God to meet us where we are at. I often pray for an encounter, because I want to sit at His feet, I want to feel His presence, I want to live in His Grace, but what price would I be willing to pay? Loving God, and being his disciple has never been a gold ticket to a cruisey life. We still have to endure the ups ad downs. We still have to deal with the difficulties of sharing our space with other living things. Really, the best (and perhaps only) way to experience and live out a peaceful life is to focus on him, so that we are able to respond to any circumstance through a God lens. How would He see a person, what would He say? What would He think? How would He react? It is not always easy to respond in a Godly manner. I dont always want to smile. I am not always interested in what others have to say. Sometimes I just want to be alone with my thoughts, but I hope that by drawing more from His well and by going deeper into His word, I will be able to more often die to myself, that I might live in Him.
Love, S.
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