What If Your Plans Crumble? (Upward Devotion)
GIST: This might not be what you saw coming, but God is still working!
SCRIPTURE: Acts 9:23-26
When I agreed to share the halftime devotion with you today, I really had no idea what exactly I was going to do. However, I know I have absolutely nothing to share with you unless God has first been teaching it to me, so I’m just going to do that. It also so happens that we all at least have one thing in common, we have a connection to some small person who is playing Upward basketball this year. This means, at least a large number of you probably also have this in common with me--you’re morning might not have gone quite as smoothly as you would have hoped. We only have three kids, but you’d think with the time it takes for them to get out the door, we were hauling at least fifteen with us :).
And really, not having life go exactly as planned is what I want to talk about this morning. Chances are high that if you’re here and you’re human, you’re life hasn’t turned out the way it looked in your dreams. Recently, as a church, we have been studying the book of Acts. In this Biblical account, we meet a man named Saul. If anyone understands what it means to not have life go according to plan, he did. He was a privileged religious leader in Jerusalem. When the Christian church started spreading after Jesus ascended into Heaven, Saul made it his personal mission to destroy the church. He stood by and watched approvingly as the first Christian was martyred. Then, he started going door to door, ripping Christians from their homes and dragging them to similar trials. But this wasn’t enough, so he got permission to extend his hunt to an ancient and influential city called Damascus. On his way there, Jesus messed him up. He was just trotting along and was suddenly surrounded by a great light. He was face-to-face with the risen Jesus, and called on the carpet for his sin and brought to his knees as he realized his need for this one he had been persecuting. The experience left him stunned...but also blind, so he had to be led by the hand until God sent another disciple to heal his vision. Then, Saul started preaching the word, and people were amazed, but even that didn’t go exactly as planned. Saul ends up becoming the most influential spreader of the gospel in the early church. However, it took time. About three years after his conversion, this happened: “23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” By the grace of God, a man named Barnabas helps bring Saul into the fold, and he continues his ministry, but it’s still at least 10 more years before he goes on his first “missionary journey” for which he is remembered today. So, let me make two quick observations and then we’ll hit some takeways and go back to watching some basketball. First→
I. This isn’t how Saul saw his life going.
-This was an incredibly humbling experience….several times. When he’s saved, he’s blinded and led by the hand. When he’s preaching and people try and kill him, he’s rescued by the other Christians, but this only happens because they still him in the equivalent of a trashcan and lower him over a wall. This wasn’t part of his plan. Also→
-Persecution became part of his life. Everywhere he went he was persecuted. In fact, it became pretty common plan that someone would react to his presentation of the gospel by trying to kill him. And lastly→
-Delays were a part of his life, as well. He didn’t immediately become the great apostle Paul who is used to write a major chunk of the NT. First, he spends about 15 years spreading the gospel and trying not to be killed without much recognition.
So, this wasn’t what he expected→
II. But God was still working.
-People were still being saved. None of this time was wasted. It might not have been what he thought would or should have happened, but it was still used by God to accomplished exactly what He needed to happen.
So, here’s are takeaways for this afternoon.
TAKEAWAYS
1. Come to know the one who holds your future. Then-->
2. Don’t be discouraged when His timing isn’t what you expected.
-There is not such thing as wasted time...unless you waste it.
-Patience is a virtue because God knows what He’s doing.
3. Don’t be discouraged when your calling means suffering for His name.
4. Never forget, you’re called by JESUS for a purpose!
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