Often I feel that trusting in God’s promises is a bit like
bungee jumping. You feel that you are in a free fall, about to crash on the
ground, but just a few inches before your head should hit the ground you are
pulled to safety.
We can see this invisible protection clearly in the life of
the apostle Paul.
In Acts 18 Paul is ministering at Corinth.
“Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do
not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one
will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’ And he
continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one
accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, ‘This
fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.’
And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to
the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there
would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words
and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a
judge of such matters.’ And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the
Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the
judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.” (Acts 18:91-16)
Paul must have been weary of attacks against him, as he had
already been nearly killed many times, imprisoned, and in fact probably been
resurrected once (Acts 14:19-29). He must have felt low, but God strengthened
him through the vision.
But that didn’t stop the attacks from the enemy from coming!
The Jews dragged him to the judgment seat but the proconsul refused to judge
him. It doesn’t look like Paul was hurt at all, but I’m sure that on the way to
the judgment seat the devil whispered to him that he would be beaten and
whipped, and that his life would end.
In his rage, the devil beat Sosthenes as he couldn’t touch
Paul. You see, God’s promise protected Paul but it didn’t include Sosthenes!
One of the main tricks of the enemy is to make it look like
a promise of God is about to fail, so that we would freak out in unbelief and
cause our own downfall.
And in fact, everything in Paul’s situation looked like he
was being attacked and that he would be hurt. Like with bungee jumping, it
looks like you are about to hit the ground but it is the invisible rope of God’s
promise that keeps you from being destroyed.
Often, the enemy paints vivid imaginings of impending
destruction in my mind. At those times I say:
“But I haven’t been destroyed yet!”
Just because it looks like your life is about to be
destroyed in contradiction to God’s promises, it doesn’t mean that it will be!
For God has already factored His saving action in His plan. You might not see
it but it is there, like a rope saving the life of a bungee jumper!
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