In The Blink of An Eye

It is amazing how quickly things can change.  Truly things seem to change in the blink of an eye.  The weather can change in an instant.  The score in a game can change as momentum changes.  A great suspense movie or book will change at any moment leaving you breathless.  When things change in our lives through tragedy, a challenge, a blessing, or just what we call “life” how do you respond? 

I would imagine that at times you have responded in anger.  Other times you have responded in fear or perhaps anxiety.  Sometimes you probably have responded with a boldness you did not even know you were capable of presenting.

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas have begun to preach the gospel in Lystra and have healed a lame man during their time there.  As the crowds witnessed this miracle with great awe and excitement, they began to declare that these apostles were the “gods” who “have come down to us in human form!”  The crowd was eager and ready to praise and worship these two men they believed to be Zeus and Hermes. 

These two men of God (the one true God) would have nothing to do with this mistaken identity and passionately began to share the truth of Jehovah God with them.  Despite Paul’s earnest pleas and faithful exhortations they continued to believe that they were gods. 

And then came the change . . .

In verse 19 we find that “some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over.  They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.  (20)  But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.  The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.”

How quickly things can change!  From having the opportunity to preach God’s Word one moment to being stoned the next.  From having to convince the crowd not to worship them one moment, then taking their beatings the next.  But how did Paul respond? After nearly dying,  “He got up and went back into the city.”  Although he would not stay there long, just look at the boldness with which he continued his mission. 

Perhaps he was thinking of this event, or others like it, when he wrote 1 Corinthians 15:58:  “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

When things change in the blink of an eye, we often turn and run for the hills.  Sometimes we give up.  Often times we hide our head in the sand.  I pray today that we would get back up and continue the mission.  I pray today that we would be bold and we would have complete trust in the Holy Spirit and his power over our lives and in our lives. 

**Photo courtesy of Google Image Search.