Jump Start # 678

Acts 8:4 “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.”

In our Jump Start yesterday, we saw that Saul gave his full approval of the killing of Stephen. The death of that preacher seemed to motivate Saul to personally and aggressive attack God’s people. Saul dragged men and women to prison. It wouldn’t take long before his name was known. The disciples would fear his name. The Jews would look upon Saul as a rising star, a hero among them.

Our verse today shows the impact that Saul was having. The disciples scattered. They left the area. Later, Luke picks up with this and says, “So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone” (11:19).

There is an interesting lesson here for us and it’s a hard one for us to grasp. Hardships, hard times, persecution was the means that got the disciples to spread out and in doing that the Gospel spread to other places. Had it not been for the persecution, many of the disciples may have stayed in Jerusalem. When things are calm we don’t see the urgency and often the need to do what we should. Throw in a bit of hard times and that changes everything.

This is not only true with the spread of the Gospel, it’s true concerning how serious one takes God and His word. Remember the prodigal? He was doing pretty good, walking away from home with a pocket full of money and a head full of dreams. The far country didn’t turn out as he planned. He spent everything, Luke 15 tells us. Then, came the famine. There are always famines in our life. It was at this point that the prodigal came to his senses. He was senseless when he was demanding his portion of the inheritance. He was senseless when he was going through the money with no concern for tomorrow. It was the hard times that brought him around. God used hard times, a famine, to bring Joseph’s family to Egypt. God uses hard times.

We fear hard times and trials so much that many of us panic when they happen. We pray for God to deliver us from the hard times. We want God to end the hard times. Could it be that the hard times is the means to bring us to where we ought to be? Maybe a good dose of hard times is what we all need to get closer to the Lord and to get about doing what we should.

I think it is interesting that Saul did not get his vision from the Lord immediately after Stephen’s death. God waited. God allowed some to be thrown into prison. Still God waited. God allowed fear to rise. God waited. God allowed the disciples to scatter. God waited. God waited until Saul was on his way to Damascus before He appeared to him in a vision. Chapter 9 begins with these words, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (9:1). Still breathing…still causing trouble…still a menace…still causing fear…God waited and then He finally showed Himself to Saul.

Peace and prosperity can make people and churches fat and lazy. We need to be challenged. We need to be moved. Still water tends to turn green. Still hearts tend to smother faith. The disciples scattered, but they didn’t stay silent. They scattered but didn’t go underground. They scattered and told others the Gospel.

The kingdom grew because scared disciples continued to share the message of hope and salvation.

The loss of a job…the loss of a parent…tough co-workers…closed doors…resistance…opposition…hard times…persecution…all of these can make us hide in the shadows or like the disciples of Acts 8, they can lead us to speaking to others in other places.

Got someone in the family who just doesn’t care or is stubborn in their sin? Maybe praying for a night with the pigs will bring them to their senses. Parents, instead of always coming to help your grown children who made messes of their lives, maybe letting them come to their senses is the best thing. It’s hard. It’s hard not to step in and make things right. It’s hard not to undo the mess they caused. The father of the prodigal waited…but he waited at home. He didn’t send a check to the pig pen. He didn’t come out to the pig pen. The son, alone and desperate, came to something he never had seen before. It was his senses.

Hard times will do that. Hard times will remind us what is important. The early church grew, not because of some large scale planning committee, nor some super organization that collected thousands of dollars and hired a slick PR firm. It grew without TV ads, billboards, telemarketing, fancy fliers, magnets, buttons or any such things. It grew without fine church buildings to meet in. It grew without powerpoint sermons and packets to hand to visitors. It grew in the midst of hard times. It grew when it wasn’t popular. It grew because disciples told others about Jesus. That is the best way the church will grow. It will continue to do so when we get that lesson ourselves.  We don’t need this or that. What we need is a good kick in the pants by hard times to remind us to turn off the TV and pick up the phone and call a friend and talk to him like we never have before.

Hard times—God uses them…maybe we ought as well.

Roger