Saturday 16 May, 2020

18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Paul had been in Corinth for a while, after God had encouraged him to stay. But now it was time for Paul to continue on his journey. He visits a lot of cities, going from Corinth to Cenchrea, Ephesus, Caesarea, Jerusalem and Antioch. He then goes onto Galatia and Phrygia. While it doesn’t say how much time this took, neither does it give us a lot of detail as to what each day looked like. 

In some strange way I find this encouraging. In my broken nit-picking way, I over-examine my everyday life hoping that I am pleasing God in every moment. But this passage encourages me to stand back a bit and take an overall, broad kind of look: am I doing what I believe God has called me to? Pure and simple. Gracious.

Holy Spirit help me to let go and trust the Father more. That who I am – His child – is enough and that I can relax and enjoy this life You offer me and live in the arena of Your Grace.

Written by Gab Martin