Article November 5, 2018 Issue

‘None of these things move me’

Richard Schaberg

The Apostle Paul was beaten with rods; he was jailed; his enemies stirred up a crowd, calling him a babbler, questioning and opposing his preaching; these enemies caused a whole city to be filled with confusion, and often plotted against him; he was also shipwrecked and bitten by a viper. According to the book of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible, Paul encountered these and numerous other tribulations (as well as victories); others who preached Christianity had similarly challenging experiences.

One time Paul told his companions, not knowing what difficulties he was yet to face, “None of these things move me” (Acts 20:24). What trust in God! While Paul never ignored or minimized the significance of the hurt and persecution he endured, he nevertheless refused to let dire circumstances move him away from his faith and trust in God, knowing that he was doing God’s work. And this refusal laid the groundwork for Paul’s many victories.

I’ve been asking myself what made Paul so unshakable in his mission. I think the answer goes back to when the Christ transformed him from a terrible persecutor of Jesus’ followers to a follower of Jesus (see Acts, chap. 9). Through this transformation, his nature was so completely renewed that from then on, his mission of preaching and healing was based on a solid foundation of Christ, Truth.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Lessons in yielding to divine Love