Journey of Paul
Week 1
Wednesday, January 31
Take your Time
Acts 18: 9-11
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church challenged them in a lot of their behavior, practices, and principles. How do you think they would have received that? How do you respond when someone wants to give you some advice?
The challenge with social media or the modern world in which we live is that people feel the need to give all sorts of advice or their opinions on stuff. Here is the thing, even though someone went to elementary school with you or they are friends with your friends somehow, that doesn’t necessarily make them an authority figure in your life or on any given subject. I found that there are certain people who can speak into my life and others that want to speak but all I hear is noise. I bet that the determining factor for how you listen to people might be the same for how the Corinthians listened to Paul. He was with them for a year and a half.
In some instances, Paul was only allowed to stay in a city or a region for a short time. Here it feels like there is a good bit of time for him to stay. A year and a half might not feel like a long time to you, but compared to the other early churches, Corinth was able to have Paul as a founder of their church for a solid period of time.
When we need to deliver a message to someone, how do we ensure that we have made more relational deposits than withdrawals? Trust takes more courage than time, but time certainly helps in the building up of trust. Before we get into the verses and details of 1 Corinthians 13, I wanted to take some time (or a few days) to try and set the scene of who Paul was to this church. He was someone who loved the people; he was with them working alongside them, and he spent a considerable amount of time beginning something with them. So when we read his chapter of love, it is not just beautiful words, but words from a trusted founder, pastor, friend, and mentor.
There might be someone who doesn’t seem to catch the message you are trying to send. What if you took some more time? Be patient and keep loving. Build alongside them, but don’t be afraid to put in the hours. They might be able to hear you differently because they know you differently. So take your time. It will pay off in the end.
Prayer
Lord, give me grace to be patient. Amen