Acts 16 | Taking Risks预览

Some people mistake faith with blind faith. They mistake faith with foolish risk. They link God’s leading to their emotional impulses and equate the two.

When Jesus says, “Come, follow me,” it certainly entails risking our lives for him. But that should not lead us to think God is asking us to be careless or unprepared.

When Jesus sent his disciples out in his name, he told them this: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues” (Matt 10:16-17).

God may send us into the lion’s den. But be shrewd. Be on guard. Leverage what God has given you!

Paul did this.

The next morning, Luke tells us the town magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with an order to release Paul and Silas. Their imprisonment was an intimidation move. An attempt to silence them and get them out of town.

Paul and Silas wouldn’t have it. They play a trump card: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out” (Acts 16:37).

Did you catch that? Roman citizens.

It was highly illegal what these town officials did. Paul knew it. And Paul leveraged the status and position he was blessed with in service to God’s kingdom.

Leverage what God has given you for his kingdom. God has gifted you with experiences, resources, connections, opportunities, skills and education, position in life, and more. How does all of this – all of this! – lend itself to you advancing the kingdom of God? Put him first. Obey his will. Use what he has given you. And leave the outcomes to him.

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