Acts 18: 18 Paul stayed on in Corinth
for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for
Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had
his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 They
arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went
into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time
with them, he declined. 21 But
as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he
set sail from Ephesus. 22 When
he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and
then went down to Antioch.
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“How dare they!” I felt with
anger. Ready to fight, I went and found people who would back me up. Throwing
aside consequence, I wanted to right this wrong and was willing to punch
someone in their face. Fortunately, the fight did not break out.
- There was a time when I was quick with anger.
- There was a time when I felt rage when someone said the “wrong” thing the “right” way.
- There was a time when I reacted before I considered if I should even react.
Paul had faced a lot of
hardship. From fall of being a Pharisee to rise of being a true follower of
JESUS, Paul faced beating and near death spreading the gospel. He wanted to
stand out, so he vowed to remain bald. He then did something uncharacteristic
by declining a request to stay with a group. “I will come back if it is GOD’s will” he
said.
- GOD wants me to mature in my trust in HIM.
- GOD wants me to grow in the examples HE gave through JESUS.
- GOD wants me to seek HIS wisdom and let HIM do the fighting.
After getting beat up enough, I say to
myself “There has to be a better way.” GOD knew Paul had to suffer. Paul,
at one time, pursued murder in the name of GOD. He was growing with wisdom and
sought a better way to convince people and allow GOD to do the fighting. GOD
wants me to do the same.
HE wants me to plant the seeds of HIS love
and allow HIM to bring someone else to water the seeds and HE grow the seeds.
HE also wants me to see how slow HE is to anger and how graceful HE is with me
daily. I appreciate HIS patience with me.
- Are you filled with rage?
- Are you quick to anger and react often?
- Will you allow GOD to slow your anger so HE can speak through you today?
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