You’d
think if you were doing things for God, everything would turn out right.
There
was a young medical student in Great Britain. Her name was Helen Roseveare.
She sensed a call from God to go to Africa, to the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (it was called then) as a medical missionary. She went. She established
a hospital. She was doing work among the Congolese people when, in 1960, civil
war broke out. It wasn’t long until her particular missionary compound and
hospital was overtaken by rebels. She was held captive for nearly a year, during
which she was repeatedly, brutally raped by the soldiers. After nearly a year,
she went back to England.
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Sometimes
the ways of God don’t make a lot of sense. You would think that if you were
doing the right things, things would turn out right.
But
we don’t see that in Acts. At least not as clearly as we might want to see
it. Here the apostle Paul is under arrest. There is a group of Jewish dissenters
who hate him because he stands for Jesus and the resurrection and the new covenant
and they make a vow that they’re not going to eat or drink until they murder
him. His nephew, providentially, overhears this conversation and reports it
to Paul who sends him to the centurion. He’s convinced by the lad’s story and
so there is a cohort of soldiers who transport him from Jerusalem to Caesarea.
There, he sits in prison for two full years awaiting trial. The ruler in charge
is Felix. And Felix takes some delight in hearing the story. In Acts 24 we
hear how Felix responds (verse 24): “Several days later Felix came with his
wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he
spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control
and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now!
You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’ At the same
time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently
and talked with him.”
Sometimes
the ways of God are hard to understand and yet Felix seems to have understood
them pretty clearly. He knew what he was supposed to do and yet, decided that
he would just simply play the game, hoping that he would get something out of
it. He hoped if kept listening Paul would eventually bribe him in order to
turn him loose. Paul was not about to do that. He simply took every opportunity
he had to preach the gospel to him. This man, apparently, repeatedly said “NO”
to the gospel and as far as we know never did respond positively.