Michael Shook, St. Luke’s Member for 9 years, Leader and Teacher (among many) of the Genesis Class

Acts 18:9-11
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Reflection:
I sometimes wonder when the Lord tells us to not be afraid (the most often found phrase in the Bible) is referring to how we feel or what God wants us to do or how God wants us to live our lives? Is being afraid related to whether we are truly faithful or not? Is being afraid a sin? Or, is God telling us that we are to find the courage to overcome fear through our relationship with him?  

Paul was certainly speaking out in a day when Christians were being persecuted by Romans and even some Jewish leaders, yet Paul had “shalom” which is the mental and emotional peace and happiness that only God can provide. Paul had shalom, even in a time when he was speaking out in a way that certainly put him in danger. Yet, Paul persisted in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ in Corinth and beyond. Why, because of a vision or something else?  

Fear can paralyze us to the point of not pursuing our goals or dreams in life, not taking action when we should, and not speaking up when God wants us to. But what do we mean by “speaking up” in today’s times? There seems to be a lot to speak up about today (how we should handle the virus; who we should vote for; how we should deal with discrimination in our society, etc.). The answer to any of these issues is incredibly complicated. We may get overwhelmed about what to do or say. We do know what to do. God wants us speaking up to bring others into relationship with God, which will ultimately lead them, and us, to find shalom even during these times of incredible crisis and stress.  

I believe what we can learn from this citation in Acts is that God’s list of “problems to be dealt with” is much different than our list. God’s list starts with the purposes he created us for (to be people who are sent to share the good news with others) and making sure we find shalom in that purpose.  

There have been times in my life, mostly in retrospect, where I knew God got me through something that I was unable to get through myself or led me to do things that I cannot fathom why I did them. As I have gotten older, like Paul, I start to see God’s presence supporting me AS I go through things that I don’t believe I can handle myself. Amid the pandemic, social justice crisis, and economic crisis many of us are not confident we can handle these crises ourselves. Yet, God finds purpose in us when we continue to speak his word and live by his will for us. Our peace, our shalom, is found in knowing God has “got this” in such a way as we can continue God’s purpose for our lives.     

Prayer:
Father God, grant that I may continue to lean on you, so I can fulfill your purpose for me. Help me to find shalom through you and grant that my actions and thoughts be pleasing to you and to your purposes in these stressful times. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.