To Encourage You

Acts 26:28-29 “And Agrippa said to Paul, ’In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’ And Paul said, ‘Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.’”

Are you content – or are you facing a situation in life right now in which you’d rather be almost anywhere else and doing something else? One of the fruits of following Christ is inner contentment, i.e., a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7), no matter what. Paul, who wrote about this peace, demonstrated it in an awesome way in the account above from Acts 26. In this passage, Paul has been brought from prison to stand trial for preaching the gospel. Here he stands before Herod Agrippa, King of Judea. It was Agrippa who had killed the apostle James and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1-3). Here Paul stands before one who held his life in his hands. Paul is bound in chains and helpless, while the king has just entered the city “with great pomp” (Acts 25:23). Obviously, the king held all the cards.

Yet, Paul, incredibly, in his defense, says to the king and all the other authorities with all their power and privilege “I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am.” In other words, he’s telling them “I feel sorry for you, that you’re not in my shoes, for I would never want to be in yours!” You see, prior to saying these words, Paul had recounted to the king all that had happened to him when he became a Christian. He talked about what he had been, a persecutor of Christians. But then, the risen Christ had met him on the Damascus Road and everything in his life had changed. He went from being a persecutor of believers with nothing but hatred in his heart for them, to being a persecuted Christian himself, with nothing but the deepest love for other believers, Christ, and even his enemies. Paul had been totally transformed by God. His view of everything had turned around 180 degrees, and he had absolutely no interest in turning back, even if it meant languishing in a Roman jail, stripped of all his rights, and suffering hardship, even torture, as a result.

What a stunning statement to his earthly judge! Paul’s account of his conversion elicited the following reply from Festus, the procurator of Judea, who was also there and had actually kicked Paul’s case up the chain to Agrippa: “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind” (Acts 26:24). However, Paul was anything but out of his mind. In fact, he had a total peace of mind that these rulers knew nothing of. In Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, written from prison, he says “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

So, does this describe you? Would you like it to? It can, if you, like Paul, will but put your entire trust on Christ, Who rules sovereignly over each of our lives. Paul knew the joy and contentment of knowing Christ. Peace that passes understanding is one of the things that can be experienced by a Christian as a wonderful fruit of the Spirit, along with love, joy, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and self-control  (Galatians 5:22-23). Contentment, no matter what. Peace in the face of suffering. Joy that is “inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Such is the power of God in the life of a believer. And such is the evidence of a life changed by the power and love of Christ.