Acts 14:5-20 Mistreated in Antioch and now in Iconium, Paul and Barnabas move on to Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe. Preaching about the Messiah. A pattern develops where the Jews are interested, many Gentiles become believers, and a persecution follows. The story of its development is astonishing in Lystra.
The miracles follow the Gospel. In each instance when Jesus is preached, He grants faith to those who believe. There are many different instances where faith is exercised, but when faith is present, Jesus meets with individuals and does amazing things. How these events are interpreted is often not as they were intended as in this story. I once asked if I could go to the hospital and pray with a dying patient, and the family absolutely refused! I didn’t understand why, until much later. It had to do with their catholic upbringing.
What is astonishing is the fickle nature of people. They go from wanting to worship Paul and Barnabas to stoning Paul and leaving him for dead. This is how people respond to Jesus as well. We go from exalting him to leaving him when He doesn’t do what we want or expect.
There are two sides to this experience: How do people, you and me, respond when we encounter Jesus? What happens when we know our sins are forgiven? What happens when we assume our prayers are not answered the way we want them to be? What is our reaction then?
The other side of the this is Paul and his experience:
Which one of these followed in the footsteps of Jesus?
Faith remains a mystery to me. God gives it. He does the work, and we walk with Him. He works through us, and we strive to understand him, but who can do so? Why take the mystery out of our relationship simply by trying to get it faith to operate like a machine? Walking with Jesus is a real and dynamic experience. His love is constant. It is not based on our works. So neither is anything else. It is based on relationship and trust. His timing is not ours, but that does not negate his promises.
Again, the key is walking with Jesus. Start your journey now.