Today's Devotion

December 13, 2010

Providence in Persecution

Today we read of Saul’s reaction to the Church. He became the chief enemy of the Church wreaking havoc on it. How God works things out in His providential control is amazing.

This man Saul, who was a destroyer, will soon become that great apostle Paul who wrote so much of the New Testament for us. This is not an uncommon theme for God: taking the worst and making the best. Perhaps you could even look at your life and see how He turned things around for you.

I was pondering why God operates this way so often. Then it occurred to me that sin becomes utterly sinful in the light of holiness. Light casts out darkness, and freedom is sweetest to those who have been held captive.

Maybe Paul’s past made him particularly well suited for his role as an apostle. Don’t you suppose he sometimes thought back to those dark days when he destroyed the lives of so many people? Wouldn't those memories motivate him to give his all to help what he once tried to destroy?

“Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen [to his burial], and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing [them] to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8:1-4 NKJV)

We can look back at providence and rejoice, not in our past failings, but in the grace of God to turn those failings into something glorious for His name’s sake. Even if Paul had not been chosen to be an apostle, his persecution of the church caused the Gospel to be spread everywhere as the people scattered.