Acts 8:4 (NLT), "But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went."
Wednesday... So how do we handle difficulties?
In each of the three chapters I read this morning, the people were scattered but they handled their difficulties in different ways.
Now in both Psalm 137 and Isaiah 47, God's people were taken from their homes in Jerusalem to Babylon. In Psalm 137:1-2 it tells of their response. It says, "Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees."
Yes, that is a natural response, isn't it?
I used to do that response a lot but I now strive to let my woe is me happen just for a moment. Yes, that is one response. But I'm not sure that response is a good way to handle life especially in this day in which we are living. It may not show how God can handle whatever we are going through.
Now in Isaiah they bring judgment. Verse 11 says, "So disaster will overtake you, and you won't be able to charm it away. Calamity will fall upon you, and you won't be able to buy your way out. A catastrophe will strike you suddenly, one for which you are not prepared." And that is another way to handle bad times.
I also read in Acts 8 in the New Testament of how God's people were being treated badly. Verse 3 says, "But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw then into prison." Yes, those were also tough times. So how did they respond?
Verse 4 says, "But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus everywhere they went." And they were adding to their followers daily.
So how do we handle difficulties? Do we throw away our harps? Maybe we lash out with judgment. Pointing our fingers or maybe we share the Good News of Jesus?
Yes, we are living in some bad times so let's show by our response how much the Good News of Jesus has made in our lives and will make in their life. There is power in the Good News of Jesus and what He did for us by His death and resurrection. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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