3 And when Paul had gathered a
bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out
of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And
when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said
among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath
escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And
he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. –Acts
28:3-5 (KJV)
The other day I was clearing grass and weeds along
the fence line in the backyard. Suddenly, I experienced what felt
like a needle piercing my thigh. I looked down and saw a yellow
jacket on my leg. Before I could react, another stung me further
down my leg and another got me on the hand. By then I was running
away and brushing them off. I had been on my knees, but a bee
sting will get you on your feet in a hurry. I was right beside
a nest and did not know it and those yellow jackets were not pleased
to see me.
There are countless people in the world that three
bites from yellow jackets would prove fatal. Fortunately, I am
not one of them. For Paul the Apostle, the snakebite he received
went beyond immunity. The Lord watched over him, protected him,
and God was going to lead Paul to his destination. God had a plan
and as long as Paul was faithful, God would make it happen. The
power of God in our lives remains and is active when we are faithful.
God will work in our lives even when we are not faithful, but then it
becomes a drawing back to His will. This is where life becomes
very painful. Any believer who thinks life is hard now does not
want to experience life out of God’s will. The Lord has ways
of getting our attention. We are His, we belong to Him, and He
will not let us go.
Recently, I was having a discussion with a few people
from church on Proverbs 22:6, which speaks of training a child up in
the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
For a number of years a statistic has remained constant among young
people who grow up in church. Seven out of ten will walk away
from church after high school. This is across the board in all
denominations. However, we hold to the promise of God that they
will not depart from godly instruction. Something we are seeing,
however, is a number of them coming back later on. Many young
people reach their twenties and begin to see the need for the stability
the church offers. Let us pray for them while they are away and
let us be there to welcome them back. Like the father who welcomed
the prodigal son with a ring, a robe, and a party with the fatted calf
(Luke 15:22, 23), we should do likewise.
Just as Paul had faith and his faith brought the
power of God in his life, so we too have faith and our faith brings
the power of God into our lives. Walk forward in faith today and
do not doubt.
God bless you.
