Good Morning Friends,
“So they stirred up the people and the elders
and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the
Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, ‘This fellow never
stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard
him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the
customs Moses handed down to us.’ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked
intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
(Acts 6:12-15)
The story of Stephen is a lesson in how to
handle adversity and opposition.
Stephen was a powerful man of God.
His ministry was characterized by a servant’s
heart -- he accepted the role of distributing food to the widows of the church
in order to relieve the apostles of that responsibility and allow them to focus
on prayer and the word of God.
His ministry was also characterized by grace
and power -- God touched people’s needs through Stephen in miraculous ways.
His ministry was also known for his powerful
preaching in wisdom and the Spirit.
Sounds like a person who should have been
highly respected and to whom people should have listened. That was true in the
church and among many outsiders and God brought many to Christ through him. But
it was not true of all people. There were those, even those in powerful places,
who opposed Stephen, who wanted to see him stopped. And they would resort to
any deception in order to get Stephen out of the way. They stirred up the
people against him. They brought false witnesses to testify against him. They
spoke lies about him, accusing him of things he never said.
And how did Stephen respond? In the midst of
fierce opposition that would result in his execution, Stephen trusted God. They
looked at him and his “face was like the face of an angel.” That reflects the
spirit of peace and trust that Stephen had, even as the situation deteriorated
around him.
So, do you trust God even in the midst of
adversity and opposition? You can! God is trustworthy, even in the worst
situations.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment