Grace For The Journey

The Bible says in Acts 20:21, “The next day Paul and Barnabas left for Derbe. They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra.”

God sent the apostle Paul and his companion Barnabas to Lystra to preach the Gospel there.  In Lystra they healed a man who had been crippled from birth.  The crowds thought the gods had come down from heaven in the likeness of Paul and Barnabas, and they called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes.” Paul and Barnabas would not receive their praise and worship and quickly corrected their misunderstanding.

But while they were there, some of the Jews who rejected the Gospel of Christ arrived from Antioch and stirred up the crowds and they stoned Paul; they dragged him out of the city, and left him for dead.  Miraculously, Paul was alive and well the next day.  He and Barnabas left for Derbe to preach and teach.

Then something very strange happened . . .

They went back to Lystra.

Why?

Because God had called them back

To learn the lessons of Lystra.

I want to look at two of the lessons that God ordained for Paul and Barnabas to learn.

Lesson #1: Learn from every defeat

Rarely do we learn much when the sky is blue, the clouds are fleecy, and the sun is brightly shining.  More often than not, God’s deep teachings will only be learned on the other side of a devastating defeat, hardship, or difficulty in life.   So . . .

We must seek to find

The lesson in every defeat,

Letting God use it

To shape and mold us

Into the person

He is calling us to be.

Lesson #2: Return to some defeats

Sometimes God calls us to return to a place where we experienced defeat because He intends to turn that defeat into a divine victory.

This is not an easy thing

For the natural man to do!

When we are defeated,

We would rather learn the lesson

Or just forget about it

As quickly as possible

And get on with life.

But there are times when God has determined to take us above and beyond a lesson learned and to turn that devastating defeat into a divine deliverance.  When that happens, we are reminded of our Lord’s words: “With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

That is the lesson that God gave Paul and Barnabas;

But in order to understand it,

They had to learn to think supernaturally

Rather than naturally.

Think back to the last time God determined that you should return to some particular defeat, rather than simply learn from it.

• A heated argument with a loved one?
• A broken relationship that needed to be made whole?
• A stronghold that became a stranglehold on you?

When you encounter these trials,

It may very well be that God has ordained

That the lesson learned

Will not lift you high enough.

Rather, you must return

To rise above that defeat

In order to receive the victory

That is only possible with God.

Return with a humble heart.  Return with a contrite character. Return, despite the threat of a “second stoning,” knowing that God is with you every step of the way . . . just as He was with Paul and Barnabas.

The Bible says in Psalm 37:3, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”

My prayer is that you will feed on the faithfulness of God this day as you consider the lessons of Lystra.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”