Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year OneSample

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house (Acts 28:30).

How do you respond when God limits the goals that you’ve set for Him?

Paul desires to preach Jesus where the gospel hasn’t been heralded (Romans 15:20). Yet God permits him to be placed under house arrest for two years. Why would God limit the apostle whose goal is to spread the gospel prolifically? We need to remember the following words of the Lord from Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” Amazingly, the Lord expands Paul’s outreach by limiting him. During Paul’s imprisonment, he pens Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Think about the breadth of outreach these letters have brought over two millennia. Moreover, Paul writes while imprisoned, “that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12). Only God could do this!

Employment Point: Trust God to broaden your ministry, even while being limited.