Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit (Great Lives from God's Word)

by Charles R. Swindoll

it’s only a matter of time before a gust of adversity knocks you off your feet, and you’ll need someone to pick you up. Don’t let a stubborn spirit of independence rob you of the joy of sharing your life, your weaknesses, your failures, and your dreams with others. You and I are not indispensable. You and I are not irreplaceable.

God is both. It’s His church. He’s looking for broken vessels, wounded hearts, and humble servant...

records who have some scars, who have learned not to hide them or deny them—people who understand and a...

Second, humble y...

Don’t promote yourself. Don’t push yourself to the front. Don’t drop hints. Let someone else do that.

Better yet, let God do that.

If you’re necessary for the plan, God will put you in the right place at just the precise time.

This would be a good time for you to resist going through life trying to live according to your own understanding—thinking if you can just climb up one or two more rungs on the ladder, you’ll be there.

Third, trust God.

remind yourself often, it’s the Lord’s work to be done the Lord’s way.

“The irony was not lost on him that the mighty Paul, who had originally approached Damascus with all the panoply of the high priest’s representative, should make his last exit in a fish basket, helped by the very people he had come to hurt.”

We are to be wholly, continually, and completely dependent on the mercy of God, if we want to do the Lord’s work the Lord’s way. Paul had to learn that.

In His time, in His way, He will conquer your stubborn independence. God is never pleased with an independent spirit.

I have found that one of God’s favorite methods of preparing us for something great is to send us into the shadows to wait.

“Waiting is a common instrument of providential discipline for those to whom exceptional work has been appointed.”

THE BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE OF WAITING

Exceptional work is preceded by extended waiting. Very few individuals jump into exceptional work,

God prepares us during times when the whole world seems to be going on without us.

FINDING SAUL IN THE SHADOWS

Romans 8:25. “If we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

Neither name recognition nor image matters to God. Substance and character are His concerns. Saul learned the truth of all that in Tarsus. And while he waited, God began to move mightily in a city called Antioch, down southeast of Tarsus.

NO SMALL REVIVAL GOING ON

Peter got the message. The result? Many believed, including a Gentile named Cornelius. Even the people of Cyprus and the people of Cyrene responded to the Gospel. Revival continued to move across the islands of the eastern Mediterranean. By the time this sweeping demonstration of grace reached Antioch, it was downright electric. The work of God’s Spirit was abundantly evident to all.

People were coming to Christ by the droves. It must have been breathtaking for Barnabas to be a part of all that. By the way, I want to point out that these people weren’t “brought to the Church.” They were “brought to the Lord.” Revival isn’t about enlarging the membership rolls of a church. It’s about adding names to the Book of Life.

“These people were added to the Lord Jesus before they were added to the church. If that were always true, what a difference it would make in our churches.”

What you are witnessing is the Lord’s hand as He moves through His Spirit in and among His people. The lost are saved, and the saved are revived. Plain and simple, that is what “revival” means—a renewing of spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead and spiritually dull.

A CONSPICUOUS ABSENCE

While in Tarsus, Saul lost confidence in the flesh. In fact, it was most likely during that time in the shadows that he received from the Lord the thorn in the flesh, which he writes about in his second letter to the Corinthians.

from the time Paul wrote the second letter to the believers at Corinth, that places him at the time he was waiting in Tarsus.

Quite possibly, during one of his numerous floggings he received in Tarsus, or in an agonizing battle to survive being stoned, he lapsed into a semi-conscious state—something of a trance. Possibly, while in that state of mind, the Lord transported him to Paradise and revealed inexpressible, profound truths to him.

Did Saul exper a near death exper?

“I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 9, 10). That’s true humility. Incredible perspective. He learned to boast in nothing but his own weakness. And, remember, he learned that in the shadows. But nobody knew about it. His transformation never made the headlines.

Your time of God-ordained waiting will never be all that significant in other people’s minds. All they may know is that you dropped out of sight.

The Lord uses the disappointment to lead you to your own Tarsus—otherwise known as His waiting room. There He begins to work deep within your soul. Until you, like Saul, gain such a renewed perspective, you can honestly confess, “When I am weak, He is strong.”

A MINISTRY EMERGING FROM THE SHADOWS

“Oh, let me tell you.” With that the excited Barnabas unfolded to Saul the story of the Antioch revival. And the Scripture says that Barnabas “brought him to Antioch” (v. 26).

The things he once considered great now meant nothing. He wasn’t going to Antioch to prove something or to make a name for himself. He went for all the right reasons—the reasons he had learned in the shadows.

It was as if the Lord said, “Now is the time.” And “it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (v. 26).

Out of great weakness he ministered with even greater strength. Why? Don’t hurry through this—because he waited. Patiently, willingly, he trusted God in the shadows.

FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR TRUSTING GOD IN THE SHADOWS

let me suggest four principles I find between the lines of the events we’ve just considered.

First, when God prepares us for effective ministry, He includes what we would rather omit—a period of waiting. That cultivates patience.

Second, as God makes us wait, hiding us in His shadow, He shows us we’re not indispensable. That makes us humble.

Saul willingly remained behind the scenes. All the while waiting for his time—correction—God’s time.

Third, while God hides us away, He reveals new dimensions of Himself and new insights regarding ministry. That makes us deep.

What we need today is not smarter people or busier people. A far greater need is deeper people. Deep people will always have a ministry. Always. God dee...

Fourth, when God finally chooses to use us, it comes at a time least expected, when we feel the least qual...

Be not afraid to trust God utterly. As you go down the long corridor you may find that He has preceded you and locked many doors which you would fain have entered; but be sure that beyond these there is one which He has left unlocked. Open it and enter, and you will find yourself face to face with a bend of the river of opportunity, broader and deeper than anything you dared to imagine in your sunniest dreams. Launch forth on it; it conducts to the open sea.”

We try to break the locks. We are determined this is His plan for me. “This is what I had in mind. I’ve waited long enough.” We manipulate things and we forcefully step into the scene.

You enjoy no sense of satisfaction. There’s also an absence of inner peace. Eventually, the pressure will get to you, and you’ll end up regretting the day you forced open that closed door.

Here’s fresh hope in three words: God is able.