Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Give Us This Day

Home
Evangelical
Wednesday of Trinity 7 – Acts 23:25-24:9

Wednesday of Trinity 7 – Acts 23:25-24:9

Last updated on: August 5, 2014 at 9:23 pm by Fr. Charles Erlandson

Wednesday of Trinity 7 – Acts 23:25-24:9 2014-08-05T21:23:28-05:00 Fr. Charles Erlandson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Acts 23:25-24:9

Have you ever been falsely accused? Have you ever been persecuted?

I’ve lost track of how many times St. Paul was falsely accused or persecuted, but it’s a bunch – a big bunch!

Jesus, his Master, predicted that such persecution would come, and Paul himself had been told that he would be put in chains for the gospel. The amazing thing is that Paul is like the Energizer Bunny. He keeps on going and going, knowing that he will face further persecution: 2nd verse, same as the 1st.

Some of us love to read true stories of courage: it’s one of the reasons people like to read non-fiction works about wars, and it’s one of the reasons people like The Lord of the Rings, because face it, most of us are not wizards or elves or even men or dwarves but hobbits who appear to be insignificant.

But here are the truest and noblest stories of courage: the lives of the saints, including St. Paul. Once again, we find him facing persecution and courageously enduring it like a soldier of the Cross.

Thank God we also know the source of that courage and have access to it: it’s the Encourager Himself, the Holy Spirit.

If you’re like me, you may not have faced a lot of outright persecution. Since I don’t have many good stories from my own life, especially persecution ones, I’ll share the one I’ve got.

It was back in the spring of 1986, and I was working on my master’s degree in English literature at good ol’ conservative Texas A&M (go Aggies! Whoo-ahhh! Sorry.) I got involved with the literary magazine, Litmus, and served on the poetry editorial board. We had a lot of poetry submissions to review, but out of them we only passed 13 on to the next level of consideration, 3 of which were my 3 submissions. The upper board only passed 3 of these 13, two of which were mine. Especially since they didn’t know I’d written them, I was very gratified by this.

And amused. One of the poems I’d written about desiring God was misinterpreted by one of those on the board as being about romantic love and sex. It was not just the passionate language but also that some of the board members had no category in their hearts for passionate poetry about God. The chief editor remarked that she thought it couldn’t possibly be about God (in spite of very clear markers that this is exactly what the author had intended) and therefore had to be about romantic love.

In the end, all 3 of my poems were going to be published in Litmus until I got a call from the chairperson. She informed me that only 1 of my poems would be published, which happened to be the only one not specifically Christian in nature. When I asked her why the other 2 were dropped, ones which had been highly praised in earlier meetings, all she could tell me was that it wasn’t the kind of language they were looking for. She assured me that it had nothing to do with the religious content and, oh, by the way, would I serve on the board next year.

You’d have to understand how much of my identity was tied up with my writing at that point in my life to understand the hurt. In the end, I chalked it up to being persecuted for Christ.

The point of my story is not what you may think. I come to bury Fr. Charles, not to praise him. My point is how much I allow relatively little things to hurt me and how much I think of the injuries I sustain by the aluminum foil spears of the enemy.

How much greater were the persecutions of Paul and of many Christians throughout the world today! How much greater their courage, and how much greater their opportunity to learn that God is made perfect in their weakness and that His grace is sufficient.

I, too, have my opportunities, but I find that on occasion I want to run and hide or am willing to joust against the anthills of the enemy but not his real strongholds.

But not St. Paul. He was a true warrior. God may not have called you or me to battles like St. Paul’s, but He’s called us.

We are at war, and He’s summoned us to join Him. He recruited us, and we signed up for life in his army. Like a hobbit, you may think that the battles He’s given you and your role in them are insignificant, but God thinks otherwise. He’s given you exactly the role He wants you to have, which is exactly the role you should have. And should you prove a good and faithful soldier, He’ll promote you to a grander part of the battle.

But it’s by being faithful in the small things, by being courageous and encouraged by the Holy Spirit that we grow in His service.

So thank you today, St. Paul, for inspiring me to be more bold and courageous in the Lord’s service. I will go forth today renewed in the service God has crafted especially for me, remembering that everything that happens today is a means of seeing God and giving Him glory.

Prayer: Father, in my hour of weakness, trial, and attack, I turn to You as my strong help. Send to me the Encourager, the Holy Spirit, that I may fight courageously and without shame in Your army. Help me to seek and find my Lord Jesus Christ that I may follow Him into spiritual battle today, knowing that He alone is my spiritual armor. Give me the strength to accept the mission You have given me today, and use it to lead me closer to You. Amen.

Point for Meditation:

1. To what battles is the Lord calling you today? In what ways can you prepare for them?

2. When you are weak and fearful, what has been your strategy lately?

Resolution: I resolve to look for Jesus Christ in my weakness today, asking Him to send the Holy Spirit that I may do His will courageously and fearlessly.

Book of Common Prayer

courage

Fr. Charles Erlandson

Give Us This Day daily devotional

Previous Post

August 4, 2014

Tuesday of Trinity 7 - Acts 23:12-24

Next Post

August 6, 2014 Thursday of Trinity 7 - Acts 24:10-27

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Featured Give Us This Day Give Us This Day Devotional love me love my wife Love My Wife Reformed Catholicism Blog Spirit-Reality Take This Cup Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 September 2018 July 2018 March 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: According to Hebrews, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE