Remember those hungry fellows who promised not to eat until they ambushed Paul? We read about them in Acts 23:12, When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. It didn’t work. Why? Because a string of unlikely events happened, events that they were not expecting.
- A boy overheard the plot.
- The boy had the courage to go to the Roman centurion guarding Paul.
- The centurion took him seriously and brought him to the Tribune.
- The Tribune believed him and prepared “two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen” to take Paul to safety.
Highly unlikely. Strange. But true.
So what had the hungry men lying in ambush missed? They failed to consider what happened to Paul just before they made their plot. The Lord appeared to Paul in prison and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. (Acts 23:11)
God said Paul was going to Rome. And that was that. No ambush can stand against the promise of Christ. Until he got to Rome, Paul was immortal. There was a final testimony to be given. And Christ would see to it that Paul would give it.
You too have a final testimony to give. And you are immortal until you give it.
There is so much comfort in that. God has our back. We are going to get to where He wants us to be, no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. No scheme of man or of this world can stand in the way of the will of God.
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21)
This is where our comfort comes from. I hate to beat the broken record but, God has a plan. He has a plan for you and for your life, and nothing can stand in the way of his will prevailing.
They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:15-16)
Pilate’s authority to crucify Jesus did not intimidate Jesus. Why not? Not because Pilate was lying. Not because he didn’t have the authority to crucify Jesus. He did. Rather, this authority did not intimidate Jesus because it was derivative. Jesus said, “It was given to you from above.” Which means it is really authoritative. Not less. But more.
So how is this not intimidating? Pilate not only has authority to kill Jesus, but he has God-given authority to kill him.
This does not intimidate Jesus because Pilate’s authority over Jesus is subordinate to God’s authority over Pilate. Jesus gets His comfort at this moment not because Pilate’s will is powerless, but because Pilate’s will is guided. Not because Jesus isn’t in the hands of Pilate’s fear, but because Pilate is in the hands of Jesus’s Father.
This means that our comfort comes not from the powerlessness of our enemies, but from our Father’s sovereign rule over their power.
This is the point of Romans 8:25-37. (I won’t write it all out but this is the part where it would be beneficial if you go and read through those verses 😛 ) Tribulation and distress and persecution and famine and danger and sword cannot separate us from Christ because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Pilate (and all of Jesus’s adversaries and ours) meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. (Genesis 50:20) All Jesus’s enemies gathered together with their God-given authority “to do whatever God’s hand and God’s plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:28) They sinned. But through their sinning God saved.
Therefore, do not be intimidated by your adversaries who can only kill the body. Not only because this is all they can do (Luke 12:4), but because it is done under the watchful hand of your Father.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)
Pilate has authority. Herod has authority. Soldiers have authority. Satan has authority. But none is independent. All their authority is derivative. All of it is subordinate to God’s will. Fear not. You are precious to your sovereign Father. Far more precious than the unforgotten birds.
I have been facing a lot of negativity about going on the World Race after announcing it to my friends and family. So many of my friends and family members are attempting to dissuade me from going. “You can’t go to Africa, do you watch the news, it’s called Ebola. There are so many diseases out there, you’re going to get something. And what about all those Christians being killed for their faith out there.” And the list goes on and on and on and on. But all I hear is people telling me to stay at home in my perfect bubble of a life and never venture out to do anything different. I am not going to apologize for wanting more out of life. I am not going to apologize for not wanting some boring 9-5 office job because it’s “safe” and “secure.” I want adventure, I want different, I want to look back and be able to say that I did something really meaningful and purposeful with my life. I want to follow Jesus wherever He may lead me. And the World Race is only the beginning for me. So my dearest family and friends, please do not fear, because I am immortal. God has destined me to venture out onto the amazing adventure called the World Race, and I am immortal because of that. No disease or hand of man can stop me from going where God wants me to go. And I find great comfort in that, and I hope you do too.
