God’s sovereignty is practical . . .

I’ve no clue how it happens. We are in a crowd of strangers, usually dozens or even hundreds, and within a few minutes my husband has found and is talking to another man who loves to fly airplanes. Do they have some invisible marking that only pilots recognize? Or a magnet that draws them together?

Paul left one large city and went to another. The first thing that happened was something like that . . .

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. (Acts 18:1-3)

Not only were they connected by trade, these two were also believers. They soon teamed up with Paul as he moved through the known world sharing the Gospel. (See Romans 16:3, 1 Corinthians 16:19.) In a city of several hundred thousand, he ‘found’ them? God has a way of making things happen.

Paul began doing in Corinth what he had been doing elsewhere. The receptivity was not always good . . .

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:4-6)

His efforts to convince the Jews only angered them so he did what he said he would do — with far more positive results . . .

And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” (Acts 18:6-8)

God has a way of making things happen. This also ties to what He suggested yesterday: the size of any city and its seeming receptivity can be intimidating but this is not a problem for Him. He can have many people ready to hear, people already considered His own because He choses us from before the foundation of the world! He has a way of making things happen.

Paul was not one of these evangelists that drops in to preach and then leaves. To him, reaching souls for Christ did not stop at their conversion: “And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:7) This applies to me also. New converts need follow-up to establish them in their new life!

Yet as Paul experienced the blessing of God on his work, this man also experienced opposition. It may have come from the Jews, but as he later wrote, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) I also need to be careful about blaming people when the root of their opposition is my spiritual enemies.

God has a way of making things happen. The religious leaders “made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, ‘This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.’ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.’ And he drove them from the tribunal. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.” (Acts 18:12–17)

This Gentile ruler was totally disinterested in religious matters and God used that in Paul’s favor, even in his defense. Reading this is a faith-builder. If God asks me to do anything that scares me, I need not be anxious for He is able to turn away any threats, even use them to advance His purposes.

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Lord Jesus, right now my threat is not people or outside events but a problem from one of my necessary medications. I’m restricted in my actions because of it but not in my confidence in You. If You can use this for Your purposes, You will. Otherwise You can change what is going on or remove it. Thank You. Amen!