Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. (Acts 25:19, ESV)

It must be a whole lot easier for strong followers of Christ like the apostles to share the gospel, spread the love of Jesus, or, despite extreme discomfort, go against the culture than it is for me. Surely, right?

‍

Friends, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It is solely due to God’s beautiful grace, boundless mercy, and unfathomable love that we can be saved in the first place. It is by his unmatchable power that you, Paul, or I are capable of such great things too. And when we follow Jesus into depths of relationship unimaginable, we want to go to great lengths to share it with the world anyway. The reality is, we are going to have to step outside of our comfort zone, and that can be such a beautiful thing.

In today’s verse, we read a snippet of what is going on in this chapter of Acts. Paul’s life is at stake because those who are unhappy with him preaching the gospel want him to be executed. Despite the societal pressure and threat to his life, Paul wasn’t going to stop telling people about the great news of Jesus.  Talk about facing discomfort as a follower of Christ! I’d say my apprehension about telling someone at the store about Jesus is nothing in comparison.  

‍

But wait a second! This is Paul. Come on, the Holy Spirit, through divine inspiration, used him to write several books of the Bible.  It may seem easy to focus on this, but looking back we actually see that Paul was among the worst of the worst, responsible for the persecution and murder of many Christians. As we read in Acts 22, though, Paul was radically changed. And make no mistake, our Heavenly Father wants to work miraculously in your life too!

‍

Please understand that your story and my own can be similar to Paul’s. We were sinners, undeserving of redemption. But by the grace of God and because he loves you so much, you can be used in a similar way. What if Jesus is calling you into something more? Truth be told, whether you haven’t even taken that first step of faith or you have been faithfully following him for your entire life, he does want to take you deeper.  He wants a relationship with you so meaningful that all of the discomfort you may experience in this world is diminished. Although we don’t seek the discomfort, we know that it will come with the territory.  In fact, we aren’t even being asked to step into something that Jesus hasn’t already walked through himself.

‍

Are you willing to set aside your resistance to discomfort today and answer the next step that Jesus is calling you into? Whether you are taking that first step of faith in surrendering your life to Christ or you are in danger for sharing the gospel, one thing is for certain, we can trust God even when it’s uncomfortable. So, sign up for that serve team, have that conversation that you have been putting off, or dive into whatever God is leading you into.

God, thank you for knowing me so well and for loving me deeply.  Thank you that you created me for unique and specific purposes. Please help me to see things the way you do. Help me to push past the discomfort, trusting that you have good plans for wherever you lead me. Break down the lie that says I am incapable and replace it with the truth that you are more than sufficient. Jesus, I want more. Amen!