The Essential Question (Part 8): Paul's Journey to JerusalemSýnishorn

Outside the Comfort Zone

Prepare: Are you a risk-taker? What's your risk tolerance in financial matters? In physical activities? In serving the Lord?

Read: Acts 21:27-36

Reflect: Have you ever done something for God that you knew would be challenging, even dangerous? I find it difficult to take risks. I'd much rather stay on the safe path for God. Yet in spite of my natural tendency I have to admit I've grown the most, and accomplished the most, when I've stepped, or been pushed, outside my comfort zone.

That's what happened to Paul here; he was way outside the comfort zone. Agabus and other prophets said this day was coming. Even the Holy Spirit warned him. But Paul went to Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit also made clear he should go.

The Jewish leaders whipped the crowd into a violent frenzy. Their shouts for the death penalty had an eerie resemblance to the final days of Jesus (21:36). But why were these religious men so threatened by a defrocked Pharisee with no organization, no militia, and no money?

We get a clue in verse 28. The leaders accused Paul of being against "our" law. Not God's law, or even the law of Moses; it was our law, our rules, our system. What's clear from this passage, and from world history ever since, is that when religion becomes a means for human control it is one of the most dangerous things on earth. And that's not the good news.

I wonder if Paul ever second-guessed his decision to go to Jerusalem. It can be physically stressful and spiritually confusing when a step of faith takes us into a sinkhole. But as we'll soon see in Paul's experience, when God is leading, even ministry setbacks can lead to spiritual breakthroughs. That's why, in spite of the growing chaos, Paul could be confident that God was in charge.

Apply: Think of a little risk God may be asking you to take for him in the week ahead. Spend some time praying about it and then, if you feel God's peace about it, commit to action.