“For I Am With You”

(Read Acts 18)

I’ve been aware of my Christian roots for most of my life and throughout this journey I’ve also tried to be aware of God’s plan for me. Several times I felt I was sailing along in the direction He set me on, only to be disrupted, bumped, and turned another way. One day I’m on cruise control and the next, I’m scratching my way up a steep hill with nothing to hold onto. God uses all of us in different ways, He just doesn’t tell us what those ways are.

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 18:5-6

Acts 18 takes us to Corinth where Paul was struggling to bring Jews to the blessings of Jesus Christ. Every week on the Sabbath he would go to the synagogues to share the Gospel with the Jewish worshippers. Despite his persistent teaching, he made no headway.

Prior to his lightning flash conversion in Damascus, Paul was a super Jew himself. A Pharisee. Once a Jesus follower, he sensed that his primary responsibility was to reach the Jewish population with the Gospel. (Romans 1:16) Perhaps because of his background, he never considered Gentiles as an audience for his teaching. After uninspiring success and outright abuse and death threats from the Corinthian Jews, Paul decided to teach Gentiles instead.

Paul “shook his clothes in protest”. Most experts say that gesture was actually a defiant way of rejecting their rejection of Jesus. This episode fulfilled the same spirit as what Jesus said in Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

Paul had much better luck among the Gentiles and managed to convert and Baptize many of them. What a turn of events in Paul’s life. He went from a Jesus-hating Pharisee to a one of the most prolific teachers of the Gospel in 1st Century AD. He went from teaching a community he was once part of to teaching a community of people he once held contempt for. From familiar to foreign.

In 1974, a Civil Engineering student with a strong passion for music joined the rock band Head East. He quickly established himself as a distinguished vocalist. While enjoying praise from critics and a healthy dose of success, he also developed a dependency on cocaine and alcohol. Six years later in 1980, John Schlitt was fired from the band.

Schlitt attempted to resurrect his musical career, but due to his growing addiction, was unsuccessful. His wife Dorla, a born-again Christian, insisted Schlitt visit her pastor. Schlitt has publicly stated that he had already decided to end his life so he agreed to the meeting as a formality. “So my wife would be able to say ‘he tried’.” Schlitt followed his wife’s steps and accepted Christ as well. Eventually, this allowed him to quit drugs and alcohol.

After his conversion, he began to rebuild his life. Starting at the bottom, Schlitt took cleaning jobs at a factory. After time, he became an engineer for a mining construction company. Eventually, he would find his way back to the music scene with a popular Christian band called Petra. Schlitt now has a ministry, four children, and Dorla, his loving wife of 40 years.

As a teenager, Schlitt probably imagined big dreams of being a rockstar but certainly had no dreams of becoming addicted to drugs. God’s plans for Schlitt involved fame and failure. His plans involved change.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
Acts 18:9-11

When God wants us to do things, he provides us the necessary tools and paths for our success in doing it. God’s design was to change the audience Paul would be teaching and allowed this to happen by providing protection and safety in numbers while Paul was in Corinth.

“For I am with you” is a promise Jesus made to Paul and a promise He continues to make to all of us who follow Him. This promise was the basis for God’s command to “not be afraid” and to keep teaching. When we realize what this means, and Who says it, it is sufficient for us too. Paul’s head was spinning but he never questioned God’s direction. Later in his mission, when pleading with God to remove his pain, God told Paul to keep going. “My grace is sufficient for you.,” God said. Paul continued.

Charles Spurgeon wrote that Jesus’ promise “emphasized three things: The presence of Jesus, the sympathy of Jesus, and the cooperation of Jesus.” With that kind of coverage, we need nothing else.

After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Acts 18:23

Paul not only listened to Jesus, he obeyed Him. Paul continued to preach and teach the Gospel of Christ for the rest of his life. No questions asked. Life as a follower of Jesus is a bumpy road. We will set out on one path one day and be thrust on another the next. So it’s safe to say that we should never assume we know the will of God. The minute we shape him into our mold, we are creating our own personal god, not the one true God. His promise, “For I am with you,” gives us the ability to carry out whatever we’re called to do.

I always try to make sure that God’s plans, and not my own, come first.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

Key Applications:

1. When facing resistance, do you repel? Do you retract? Do you realign and reassess? That’s what Paul did. Paul faced more adversity than most of us will ever face in life. Remember how he obeyed Jesus’ calling to him despite imprisonment, beatings, ridicule, and death threats. He picked himself up, realigned, and moved ahead. It was his faith more than any skill that lead to Paul’s resilience. Keep this in mind.
2. What do you do when you hit a dead end? You can despair, panic, and quit or you can talk to God. Pray. Ask Him what He wants of you. Paul saw a new path for his mission. Jesus confirmed it. Pray and listen.
3. How blessed do you feel knowing that Jesus is “with you?” Every morning when you wake up this week, thank Him for His promise that He will be present with you every minute each day. Before you go to sleep each night, thank Jesus for His sympathy, His cooperation, and His presence.

Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.