Acts 8: Now
Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a
great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem;
and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried
Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over
him.
3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every
house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to
prison.
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After years of
being the one who people sought after, I felt isolated in the new town. I did
not know anyone other than my coworkers. And besides, who would go out to the
not cool bars they had in this unheard of town. What was I going to do for “fun”
now?
- There were times when I dreaded being alone.
- There were times when I felt isolated from “my” people.
- There were times when I was not able to be part of a social group and I did not enjoy it.
Saul consented
the death of Stephen. Even more so, he started a great persecution of those who
believed in JESUS as their Savior. Though people were scattered, he sent people
to their homes, dragging them to prison.
- GOD sees me when I am separated from people.
- GOD knows I want to be around people but has a reason for separating me from the same old routine.
- GOD has a plan for me and is preparing me when HE separates me.
Isolation could
be dreaded or embraced. I chose to embrace it. I wanted to clear up the
misconceptions I had about this “GOD” being. I had to been to a lot of churches
that spoke mostly about their brand and not about JESUS. Where to start?
GOD was gracious
enough to have me read the book of John. When I saw in the first chapter that
JESUS was GOD, I was shocked. It made me want to read this “bible” thing for
myself. The isolation became welcome as it was a quiet place to learn about JESUS
as part of the triune GOD. I am glad I went through the time of separation.
- Do you seek a crowd?
- Are you hungry for your social gathering?
- Will you embrace times when GOD separates you so you can quiet down and listen to HIM, while HE grows you?
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