Daily Dose of the Word of God - Acts 16: 16-21

Kelly Day, Director of Coffee Break Bible Study

Transcript

Kelly Day  0:06  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Tuesday, April 21st. Today's reading is from Acts 16, 16 through 21. It is the season of Easter, and we're living it forward.

Kelly Day  0:20  

Paul and Silas. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.  When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

Kelly Day  1:25  

This story has always been a bit odd to me. A female slave possessed by an evil spirit, being used as a fortune teller by her owners - what? It's also interesting that she was shouting out the truth about Paul and company - they were servants of the Most High God and they were showing people how to be saved. So why were they so annoyed? It appears that her following them around shouting was creating a scene and it hindered them from sharing the gospel message in the way they felt called. Once they commanded the spirit to leave her, she was useless to her owners (who were taking advantage of her for money). The owners brought Paul and Silas to the authorities out of anger about losing money and not their message. Paul and Silas were just going to the place of prayer, trying to do the will of God when plans were thwarted. Things took an unexpected turn. Sometimes we too can experience something similar. We have good intentions, we commit to a plan for God and an unexpected turn happens. As Christians, we will face opposition when we try to live out our faith. I think knowing that helps us not be so surprised and shaken when it does.

Kelly Day   2:50  

What will happen next? How will Paul and Silas respond? How will we respond?

Kelly Day  2:57  

Let's pray. Dear Lord, our God, our Father in heaven, you are all-knowing. You are good and you reign from above and within us. I confess that sometimes, when opposition comes, my fear grows and I want to shrink back from following you. I thank you that you know our hearts and can grow us through tough times. I ask that you build us up as your ambassadors for Christ. That we will not live in fear, but continue to share your Good news as you call each one of us. Amen.