[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during August 2021]
Most of us who have had an online presence for any length of time will have encountered spam of one form or another. For the benefit of those who have thus far avoided this online onslaught, spam is the practice of using unsolicited messages in an attempt to persuade the recipient to divulge personal details that can be used to the sender’s advantage. Typically, a spam message might take the form “Your bank account appears to have been compromised. Give me the log-in details so that I can check it for you.” It is not difficult to guess what happens next.
For those who are unwary, receiving such a message can be a shock and cause them to panic. Imagine, then, the effect of the message received by the Christians in first-century Damascus. “Saul of Tarsus is coming!” Saul was one of the foremost persecutors of Christians in that time. By his own admission:
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. … On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.”
[Acts 26 v9-12 NIVUK]
There could be no doubt as to why Saul was coming: this man’s reputation preceded him. Christians were about to have a hard time. Did any of them try to flee? Where could they hide? No doubt many of them prayed for God’s protection. I suspect that very few of them expected that God’s protection would come in the form of Saul’s conversion: their principal antagonist would become their most prominent advocate.
In our own times, Christians in many places have received a similar message: “We know who you are, we know where you live”. Certainly, receiving such a message would be very worrying. Can they flee? Can they hide? We have been asked to pray for God’s protection for them as they face the prospect of oppression and possible martyrdom. It is our responsibility to do so but is that enough? Recall the words of Jesus in his sermon on the mount: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”[1] – those oppressors, too, are souls for whom Christ died.
God moves in mysterious ways; there is nothing too hard for him. After Saul’s conversion we read:
“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” [Acts 26 v31 NIVUK]
Do we have the courage and audacity to ask God to do the same in our own times?
[1]: Matthew ch5 v44.
Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.
Bible dates:
Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.
Horley Baptist Church onlineHBC main site
Confidential prayer link
Return to Tuesday Challenge
Jump to Index of Bible Passages
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your thought provoking reflection and the challenge which you give us.