Obedience

 The other day I was talking with someone who has been struggling for the last few years.  He wanted to present a theory.  He thought that perhaps God was very distant and didn't deal with the things on earth much.  His example was the holocaust.  How could God be involved and still allow things like that to happen?  Needless to say, I pointed him to verses about how God has numbered the hairs on our heads and takes care of us even more than the sparrows which He carefully watches over at all times.  But this morning, as I was reading in Acts, I found another example of God allowing tremendous persecution, including death.  

Acts 8:1 says, "Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him (Stephen) to death.  And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."  Verse 3 continues, "But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison."

This was no small persecution.  Did you catch what Saul was doing after approving of Stephen's stoning?  He was ravaging the church.  This means to cause severe and extensive damage to the church.  People were killed.  Families separated.  Children taken from parents.  Ravaging.  If you look at your history, you will find that many Christians died in many horrible ways from this persecution.  And God allowed it.  But did you notice where they were scattered?  "Throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria."  Look at Acts 1:8, "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."  Then look at what those who were scattered did (Acts 8:4), "Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word."  

How many people would have never heard the gospel if it hadn't been for the ravaging persecution that was taking place?  My friends, life is rough.  Bad things happen.  Horrible things happen.  To good people.  But God knows what He is doing.  You see, we only see the knots and the frayed edged of the yarn on the back of our tiny part of the tapestry, but He sees the whole, finished, complete, beautiful picture.  It is a picture of the cross.  A picture of the finished work of Jesus, redeeming all that bad stuff.  Saving all who believe.  We don't understand.  But He does.  And that is enough.