Effectiveness is not the only measure of success. Sometimes faithfulness
trumps effectiveness. In Acts 6, Stephen has a powerful ministry. He is
described as being, "full of grace and power ... performing great wonders
and miraculous signs among the people." (Acts 6:8) This is
pretty amazing. Certainly God would make sure a ministry like this continues
for a long time. Yet these words are followed by a description of Stephen's
arrest and martyrdom. Did God make a mistake? Did He lose control? Why aren't
things going the way we would have expected? Because God, in His great and
sovereign wisdom, had a better plan.
The martyrdom of Stephen started a great persecution that pushed the
church out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. This was what Jesus had
originally instructed the disciples to do. He said, "You shall be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the
earth."Stephen's powerful ministry had its place, but his death did more
to further the fulfillment of the Great Commission than his preaching and
miraculous signs ever did.
Sometimes things don't go the way we've planned. Sometimes circumstances
don't make sense to us. But God knows what he's doing. We can rest in that
truth.
Father, I have friends right now who are struggling to make sense of
their circumstances. They want to be about your business but circumstances
don't seem to allow it. Give them the grace to rest in your sovereign control
of all creation. Prepare them and use them in ways they could never imagine.
All for your glory!
Comments
Post a Comment