Pain to Purpose Devotional - DAY 42
Week 6: Jesus & The Early Church
SCRIPTURE:
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Philippians 1:12, 19-21 (ESV)
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel . . . Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
DEVO:
Stephen’s martyrdom shook something for the early church. It set off a chain reaction of persecution against people claiming to follow Jesus. For the first time, these new Christians faced widespread resistance and opposition from the religious authorities in command. They would eventually be dragged out of their houses, taken to prison and even executed for their faith.
Why is it that when we set out to attempt something great for God it seems to be met with strong resistance? Aren’t we supposed to be protected? Isn’t God supposed to have our back? I used to think that as long as we were devoting ourselves to ministry and giving ourselves to God’s work, that we would be shielded from evil. I thought my family was impervious to spiritual attack because of our calling. As if God and I had some unspoken deal that as long as we lived in His calling, we would always be sheltered from anything really bad happening to us. I remember when my late wife, Amanda, was killed, that bubble of naivety was burst. I realized that not only are God’s people not exempt from attack, we often find ourselves the target of even greater warfare.
You see there is a very real battle going on for the hearts of people in this world. It’s a spiritual battle. One that cannot be seen with our eyes, only perceived with our spiritual senses. And in this battle we have a very real enemy -- Satan. Jesus told us that the enemy comes to “steal, kill, and destroy.” He will stop at nothing to see to it that our joy is stolen, our calling is killed, and our future is destroyed. And he is particularly keen on derailing the passion and plans of those who are most devoted to bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. If you’re not actively pushing back the Kingdom of Darkness and advancing the Kingdom of Light, the enemy doesn’t need to worry about you. You have already been lulled to sleep by the allure of building your life around comfort, entertainment, pleasure and the like. However, if you decide your life is going to mean something. If you decide you’re going to take back enemy territory, you may find yourself in the center of Satan’s sights.
There is a physical law that governs this world: “Every action has an opposite and equal reaction.” Likewise, there is a spiritual law that governs the world of the unseen. “Every action has an opposite reaction” . . . but fortunately, it’s not an equal reaction. God promises us in scripture that those who are for us are more than those that are opposed to us (2 Kings 6:16), that the One who lives in us is greater than the one who lives and rules the underhanded endeavors of this world (1 John 4:4), and that no weapon that is formed against us can ultimately destroy us (Isaiah 54:17). Now, the weapons formed against us can certainly scare us, or cause us to be slowed down, or even cause some damage and pain, but God’s power at work in us and around us is greater than the power at work against us. In fact, God uses the power that works against us to wage an even greater warfare against evil itself.
I believe there is another spiritual law at work that mirrors a physical law, and that is the law of spiritual inertia. What is inertia? Inertia is an object's tendency to remain in a constant state unless acted upon by an outside force. By default spiritual inertia rules me, as I have found I’m a creature of habit. I love routine. I start most mornings the exact same. Coffee, Bible, workout, breakfast, shower — usually in that order. I've used the same brand of shampoo and conditioner for ten years. I order the same thing when I go to Cheesecake Factory (despite the many options displayed on that menu). Routine for me means I’m in control. Routine has been my constant companion, the old friend I return to in nearly every season.
Unfortunately my desire to keep the same routines tends to be in conflict with my desire to grow. Growth requires something many of us do not like. It requires us to embrace change. Why? Well very simply, growth always carries with it, change. Growing things (and people) will change. When you and I grow as people, change will inevitably follow.
But I’m not sure I have a resistance to the type of change that occurs as a by-product of growth. I very much welcome that kind of change. It is easy to palate and usually exciting. Growth seems to bring about a natural acceleration to our lives. When we find ourselves in growth seasons, we tend to be a bit more eager to embrace the things that are transforming around us. We welcome new relationships. We walk confidently into the promotion or the raise. We enjoy new adventures and exploring new places. No, it’s not that type of change that I find myself begrudging. It’s a much different type — the type that is required first in order for growth to be initiated in my life. That’s the type that makes me cringe. That’s the type I resist. It often appears in the form of an unexpected and unwelcome change. My life is moving forward at a steady rate and then, I’m perfectly content with it, and then BAM! It’s suddenly confronted by an outside, opposing force -- trial, opposition, pressure, tragedy.
We are all like this. Our natural tendency is to avoid change and nestle up with comfort. It’s predictable and safe. However, doing so also impedes our growth. I wonder if the pain of staying the same is ultimately greater than the pain of change in our lives, whether we perceive it or not. I wonder if the inertia of our lives could be more detrimental to us than the opposition we face, which is why God occasionally allows Satan to have his way and lets bad things happen, even to people who are doing His work. In the same way friction propels a walker or a runner forward, God uses the opposing force to propel us into an even greater purpose in our future -- one we’d never experience if it wasn’t for the opposition we had faced.
But what does this have to do with the people of the Early Church who were facing extreme persecution? Well, it forced them to leave Jerusalem. In fact Acts 8:1, the first verse after Stephen’s martyrdom chapter comes to a close, states, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” This means that everyone was still in Jerusalem up to this point. But everyone remaining in Jerusalem was not part of God’s plan for the Gospel message to spread to the world. On the contrary, in Acts 1:8, nearly seven chapters earlier, God told the early Christians gathered in the upper room that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on [them]” and that they would be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Spirit of God fell on them in Acts 2. So why do they remain in Jerusalem for 6 more chapters? Spiritual inertia. Things are going well. Don’t change a thing that’s working. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They were comfortable with the momentum and life change they were seeing in Jerusalem. No one wanted to leave.
Sometimes God allows disruptions in our lives, at our jobs, in our friendships, in our community, in order to move us out of discomfort. He’s been trying to get our attention about this great calling and purpose He wants us to move into, and sometimes, like a mother bird with her baby, He needs to apply (or allow) a little pressure to kick us out.
I once heard John Piper say that God allows suffering not just because they become situations He can use for our good, but because it is a strategy He can employ to push back the very nature of evil. What causes people to pause and consider more than when they see someone respond to an injustice with forgiveness? What puts the Gospel on display more than when someone faces treacherous and perilous circumstances with courage because of their trust in God? When we as Christians walk through suffering well, the world sees Christ! The world begins to understand the power of the cross and the resurrection. The world sees a Hope that it desperately needs. I think we see this very theory being fleshed out in the beginning of Acts. God uses this horrible, awful persecution that befalls the Early Church as a tool to scatter them so they can be light in the unreached corners of the world. And yet again we see the words of Joseph Genesis 50 still ringing true -- “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
I wonder how long it would have taken the Gospel to reach around the world had God not given it a little nudge out of the nest. I wonder where you and I would be right now if the early Christians had never faced the trials and persecutions they did. I’m certainly grateful the Gospel message made its way to me. Because without the reality that Jesus gave up His life for me on the cross and without the truth that the tomb is now empty, my tragedy would have surely destroyed me. It’s only those two realities that allow me to live in the light of eternity. Where my heart can echo the cry of the Apostle Paul who said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” I’m not sure we’ll ever know how much suffering occurred throughout history for the Gospel message to travel here. But I do know that you and I are right now caught up in a great narrative. I do know that God wants to leverage the suffering we’re currently going through to bring the good news of Jesus to people who need it. He’s inviting you to partner with Him to not only take back your own story, but to let your story be the lifeline for many others and their stories
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND JOURNALING:
What “nest” of comfort is God trying to nudge you out of through your trial?
How might the disruptions you’ve experienced been attempts to get your attention and move you into greater purpose?
In what ways might your suffering be a strategy to push back darkness and evil in this world? What opportunities do you have to put the Gospel on display even here?
PRAYER:
Lord, I don’t want my suffering to be for naught. If pain is a tool you use to transform me into the image of Jesus more, then I accept the pain you’ve allowed into my life. I pray that You would not only do something in me, but that You would also do something through me. May this pain lead to a greater purpose to help others know You.
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