Acts 26:1-8

Paul masterfully takes command of the room as he is given the go-ahead by King Agrippa. I found it interesting that Paul began his defense by gesturing with his hand. When I looked this up, I discovered that extending the hand was a common gesture an orator would use when addressing an audience. Paul certainly knew how to make a compelling and well-reasoned defense.

What I love about this portion of Paul’s defense is how he broke the issue down to its simplest form. He was on trial for his hope in the resurrection of the dead—a belief many of the Jews shared, and one King Agrippa would certainly have been familiar with. So why was Paul on trial for having this hope?

We say we believe a lot of things, but contrary circumstances have a way of flushing out what we truly believe. Circumstances sometimes force—or demand—that we take a stand or choose a side, if you will. Remaining neutral is not always an option.

Nothing revealed this to me more than what our world recently went through with COVID. The general populace was dealing with an unknown that was affecting virtually every aspect of our lives. Fear was rampant and, for some, immobilizing.

My husband shares that the turning point for him came when we were at a gas station and saw a person in front of us wearing gloves and a mask and using sanitary wipes to wipe down the gas pump handle. He recognized how deeply fear had taken hold.

I had a similar epiphany while cleaning and sanitizing our house. I suddenly realized there was no possible way I could clean everything, and I sensed the Lord whisper in my heart, “Why don’t you trust Me to keep you safe? That is what you believe, right?”

Then, in what I can only describe as a God-moment, I happened upon a box of first-responder cards with Psalm 91 printed on them that the fire department had given us because my husband serves as their chaplain. The next Sunday morning at church, we handed them out to everyone and reminded our congregation that Psalm 91 expressed what we believed. A portion of it reads:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We chose to trust God through the pandemic, and many who took that same stance were villainized or ostracized for pushing back against fear. As a church, we remained open and took some verbal hits for doing so, but my husband felt strongly that we needed to take a stand against what he saw as a tactic of the enemy to immobilize people through fear.

We trusted God to keep us safe and guide us through the uncharted waters of the pandemic, and He did. We were incredibly grateful that we did not lose anyone in our congregation to COVID.

Paul was in uncharted waters as well, but God had given him the assurance that He was with him, and Paul’s trust was completely in God. Though he was a victim of circumstance—and a prisoner, no less—he commanded the room with a gesture of his hand and made the most of this, and every other opportunity God afforded him, to share the Gospel.

We should be just as cognizant of the opportunities God affords us. Instead of allowing ourselves to be buried under the weight of our circumstances, we can use them to highlight God’s goodness, His faithfulness, and His complete trustworthiness. Contrary circumstances have a way of revealing whether what we say we believe is what we truly believe.

May we trust Him to safely guide us through the uncharted waters of life and bring us through to the other side—all for the glory of God!