“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’”
~Acts 18:9-10 (NIV).
Paul received this vision in Corinth—only a few verses earlier he’d dealt with, again, a number of abusive Jews. Much opposition was following Paul from within certain sectors of the society wherever he went.
Persecution is certainly still known toward the church and Christians today—and perhaps it might always be. And, still, we have this comfort of the Lord in the above vision, which is appreciably written for us today as much as it was for Paul back in the First Century.
Yes, Assurance, For Us Today
We might not have a lot of foes, or perhaps we do... perhaps our circumstances are against us... no matter; the assurance of God’s enabling Presence is with us. It is with us ‘wherever’ we are. God is with us, inside of us, via the Holy Spirit.
Where we might be attacked, certainly emotionally, God’s felt Presence is reminding us that we’re not harmed—it may feel bad right now, but God is enacting healing over us, even as we ponder these events in Spiritual reflection; as we rest humbly in God’s inimitable Presence.
God’s got many more people believing in these things of the Spirit than we even know—brothers and sisters of good arms everywhere. We are indeed surrounded by friends, and certainly God’s angels, not the other way around. Perhaps like you, they don’t advertise it as much as they feel they should. But, they are there!
And, again, so is God.
The assurance of the Lord is confidence for today. Live life well knowing God is for us and not against us. God is helping us, even now.
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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