Acts 11
“When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” Acts 11:23
In chapter 8, Stephen was stoned and the Christians were persecuted and dispersed all over the land. In chapter 10, Peter preached and through his message broke down the walls between the Jews and Gentiles. Chapter 11 gives us the next story in this Christian movement.
As we talked about earlier, after the Christians had been scattered, they never stop talking about their God and the good news. Some of the Greek-speaking believers travel to Antioch to tell them about Jesus. It says the “Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”
News of this great movement spread and they decide to send Barnabas to Antioch to check it out. When he gets there he “saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them to all remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Acts 11:23).
Wouldn’t it be great if we could all say this? If we could all see the grace of God and be glad? That would be incredible, so how did it happen for them in Antioch? Well, I think it was their persecution turned into praise. Turmoil turned into transformation. Sorrow turned into salvation.
Even with God’s grace, people still suffer, but that doesn’t mean that God is pushing you away, it could just mean he’s trying to get you to a place to serve Him better.
-Grace Rodgers
SeekGrowLove.com 