Overwhelming Sovereignty - Acts 23

I am overwhelmed by God's sovereignty this morning. As I closed my Bible and blew out a long breath, I knew I had to go downstairs to get my laptop so that I could write this blog about what I am feeling after what I just read. But I didn't want to - for fear that the feeling would dissipate before I got back upstairs.

I just read Acts 23.

The apostle Paul's story reminds me of mine in some ways - he committed ultimate acts of complete and utter horror against God in his early life, endorsing the murder of Christ followers and standing firm on his belief that Jesus was not the Messiah. Until one day . . .

Isn't that how it always goes? All is well . . . until one day . . .

Similar to my life. All was well. Until one day when it wasn't. Wasn't. Because I had committed acts of sin after sin after sin against God. Turning my eyes toward myself instead of heaven. Following myself instead of Jesus. Thinking of myself instead of others. Self. Self. Self. All in the name of being mindful and good and helpful and (supposedly) caring. Paul was the same.

One day Jesus appeared to him in a brilliant light - so brilliant he was blinded for days afterward. And then his life changed. He believed.

After that one encounter on his way to Damascus, Paul's entire focus moved from self to God. God ordered him to travel to the provinces of the Roman empire and spread the Gospel news, and he was fearful that after he had spent so much time killing those whose views he now shared, he wouldn't be received. But God had been busy preparing hearts and told him to go. You can't really argue with God - I mean, look what happened when Jonah did. He ended up in the belly of a big fish for three days! Gross! God says, "You're gonna do it my way, or you're gonna do it my way. You choose."

So Paul went. Did he encounter adversity while doing God's work? Yes! Did he end up in jail a time or two? Yep. Did God tell him to keep going? He sure did. And Paul went. And thousands upon thousands of people became followers of Christ because of the work of this one sinner.

His story gets better though! Paul returns to Jerusalem, but not without warnings that his reception is not going to be pretty. Many Jews there are not happy with him. It's at this point where I'm not sure if God had been telling him to turn around and go to Rome straight away (Paul had received warnings by several Spirit filled messengers not to go to Jerusalem) or if Paul needed to go by way of centurion guard for some reason (I haven't finished Acts, but I will in a few days). Regardless, Paul did not heed the warnings and went to Jerusalem where he was taken into custody. It isn't until this point in the book where we really get to know Paul, though.

Honestly, I find the man amusing. He's so outspoken about his walk with the Lord, but do we really know THE Paul of Tarsus? No. Not really. Until he starts bla-bla-ing about his Roman citizenship, we think he is just another Jewish guy who got fed up with all this Jesus-talk and started working to put a stop to it. Paul doesn't reveal his Roman citizenship until the group of Jews who refuse to receive the Gospel beat him him (he'd already been stoned once in Acts 14 and left for dead, and then he just gets up and walks away), and he is rescued by centurion soldiers. The Jews are screaming for him to be killed, but the commander isn't really sure what to do with him. Roman's don't abide by Jewish law, and this was clearly a matter for Jewish leadership, not Roman government. And then Paul drops a bombshell on the commander. "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" (Acts 22:25).

I can actually see the blood drain from the commander's face. The commander responds that it is expensive to become a Roman citizen, to which Paul replies that he was born a citizen (cue dramatic music). For those of you who don't know (and I didn't either, so don't feel bad. I had to research this bit of information), apparently those men (I say men because women didn't share all of the same privileges) with Roman citizenship get special privileges that non citizens do not get. For one - they are protected by the government and get to participate in this "self-government". They get to own property. AND they cannot be beaten, whipped, or sentenced to death.

Paul chose NOW to reveal this? Oh such a smart man. The fact that he chose this particular time to reveal his Roman citizenship was nothing short of the sovereignty of God. If he had traveled the provinces as a Roman preaching to Jews and Gentiles alike, his status may have hindered God's work. But God wasn't done with Paul yet, so it was at this time that He allowed Paul to make his Roman citizenship known. So the commander bound him in chains, not sure what to do with him, because he knew if he let Paul go, the Jews would kill him.

And right he was. After some witty remarks to the chief priest (scholars disagree on whether Paul was too blind to recognize him or whether he was making sarcastic jabs at the priests behavior), a band of forty Jews vowed to neither eat or drink until they killed Paul. I'm guessing they died of thirst and starvation because their plot was intercepted by Paul's nephew who went to the commander. At this point I think the commander was just done. He sent Paul, armed with a letter and two hundred soldiers to the governor who put Paul up in Herod's castle. And that's where I finished today.

But here's the kicker. God wanted Paul to go to Rome and spread the Gospel there. Jesus came to him at night (maybe in a dream? maybe not) and told him that he would be going to Rome. He just didn't realize it would be a chaperoned visit and that it would put him into Herod's palace first (Herod lived in Jerusalem, not Rome). It's kind of like in today's society - many random people don't have any social status or power to speak until they end up getting arrested or in the news for some reason. Maybe Paul needed a little boost for his ministry. Maybe he was disobedient and should have never gone back to Jerusalem in the first place. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

I couldn't help but look ahead, and sure enough, Paul makes it to Rome. His ultimate destination, according to the will of God. It took him years, but doesn't that happen frequently? By some miracle from God, with all of the dumb things we do, God allows us to decide how we are going to get where he wants us to be. He urges us and whispers to us, but ultimately we choose. Our choices make our story and our witness come alive. And sometimes it takes years.

Paul used his story over and over and over again to share the Gospel message. He was the ultimate sinner in his own eyes. I see that in myself. I defiled so many sacred rules, spoke against God, worshiped my own idols. Because of this, I can hopefully reach people who have done the same. Because of Paul's sin, he could connect with others who had chosen similar paths. Because of God's sovereignty, Paul was in the right place at the right time connecting with the right people. And because of this, his work - God's ultimate work - saved thousands.