1After saying good-by, we sailed straight to Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and from there sailed on to Patara. 2We found a ship going to Phoenicia, so we got on board and sailed off.
3We came within sight of Cyprus and then sailed south of it on to the port of Tyre in Syria, where the ship was going to unload its cargo. 4We looked up the Lord's followers and stayed with them for a week. The Holy Spirit had told them to warn Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5But when the week was over, we started on our way again. All the men, together with their wives and children, walked with us from the town to the seashore. We knelt on the beach and prayed. 6Then after saying good-by to each other, we got into the ship, and they went back home.
7We sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the followers and stayed with them for a day. 8The next day we went to Caesarea and stayed with Philip, the preacher. He was one of the seven men who helped the apostles, 9and he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 10We had been in Caesarea for several days, when the prophet Agabus came to us from Judea. 11He took Paul's belt, and with it he tied up his own hands and feet. Then he told us, "The Holy Spirit says that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. They will also hand him over to the Gentiles." 12After Agabus said this, we and the followers living there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
13But Paul answered, "Why are you crying and breaking my heart? I am not only willing to be put in jail for the Lord Jesus. I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem!"
14Since we could not get Paul to change his mind, we gave up and prayed, "Lord, please make us willing to do what you want."
15Then we got ready to go to Jerusalem. 16Some of the followers from Caesarea went with us and took us to stay in the home of Mnason. He was from Cyprus and had been a follower from the beginning.
With respect to Jerusalem, Paul said in chapter 20 "I must obey the Holy Spirit and go there". The other Christians weren't so sure. Now, in chapter 21 we're told "The Holy Spirit had told them to warn Paul not to go on to Jerusalem." Then, we have Agabus, in Caesarea, giving a similar warning.
What do we do when believers we trust give us conflicting advice? Are they wrong? Are we wrong? What if Paul got it wrong and God never intended him to return to Jerusalem! Taken at face value, we would have to agree that God was warning Paul not to Go.
So...what was God doing?
Testing Paul? I have no idea what the test would be. Paul has given us ample evidence that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and just as much evidence that he was more than willing to suffer for Christ. He was not going to be deterred from Going to Jerusalem.
God knew that...
In hindsight we also see everything that God accomplished through Paul's writing of the prison epistles...which may have never been penned had Paul not gone to Jerusalem. How many countless people have come to faith through reading them over the centuries?
God knew that too...
So, what do we do when everybody has a different message and everybody is right? I'm not sure I know the answer. What I know for sure is this: We now know that when people disagree with us we cannot assume they are wrong. And, that's one of the hardest lessons to learn. It's in our nature to dismiss opposing opinions as wrong. We do it all the time.
I remember a chaplain knocked in a woman's door in San Angelo, Texas. He said "God told me to buy your house". Her answer was "Fine...when God tells me to sell it you can have it". The woman could have told him to take a hike...or even could have called the police.
We are told in scripture to, "as much as possible, live at peace with others." That is very difficult to do when we are busy taking sides between right and wrong opinions. Maybe today's lesson is that simple...we don't always have to agree.
I'd sure like some of my friends more if I didn't have to be so responsible for their opinions. They'd like me better as well.
Live boldly out there today...
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