A Year in Luke/ActsSample

The Lord speaks encouragement to Paul as he lies in his cell. Imagine what Paul must have been thinking lying there. Perhaps his mind was going back to the family of believers he had been with in chapter 21 on his journey to Jerusalem. He had been warned about what he would face, but of course, the reality must have still been so difficult. He may have felt as if all of his speeches were just causing more and more trouble. Could he continue to stand in this way? We are told that the Lord “stood near him” to comfort him, and what a comfort that must have been. Like Stephen seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father as he was killed, Paul feels the Lord standing with him as he awaits his fate.

He is encouraged to keep going: ““Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.” (v11)

This gives Paul the clarity of where things are heading. Sometimes knowing that the Lord has a plan is enough to give us courage to keep going.