Don’t Give Up

Don’t Give Up: Acts 18

 ^5-6 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was able to give all his time to preaching and teaching, doing everything he could to persuade the Jews that Jesus was in fact God’s Messiah. But no such luck. All they did was argue contentiously and contradict him at every turn. Totally exasperated, Paul had finally had it with them and gave it up as a bad job. “Have it your way, then,” he said. “You’ve made your bed; now lie in it. From now on I’m spending my time with the other nations.”

^8-11 In the course of listening to Paul, a great many Corinthians believed and were baptized. One night the Master spoke to Paul in a dream: “Keep it up, and don’t let anyone intimidate or silence you. No matter what happens, I’m with you and no one is going to be able to hurt you. You have no idea how many people I have on my side in this city.” That was all he needed to stick it out. He stayed another year and a half, faithfully teaching the Word of God to the Corinthians.

I can relate to Paul’s frustration. Sometimes, you just want to give up. Sometimes, there seems to be no point to your efforts. In trying to do what God wanted him to do, he faced all kinds of opposition and discouragement. But God spoke encouraging words to him, and I hope that I remember these words and take them as my own in times of discouragement: ‘Keep it up and don’t’ let anyone intimidate or silence you. No matter what happens, I’m with you …’  What reassurance. So, the fact that things don’t seem to be working out as planned doesn’t in any way mean that God isn’t in it (unless, of course, it’s against His Word). I wish I could always tell when He’s in it in each situation in my life. But that’s where seeking Him comes in, I suppose. No matter what happens, though, God is with us.