By David ReayFriday 19 Jul 2013LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Acts 18:18-22
18 Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that,then said good-bye to the brothers and sisters and went to nearby Cenchrea. There he shaved his head according to Jewish custom,marking the end of a vow. Then he set sail for Syria,taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.
19 They stopped first at the port of Ephesus,where Paul left the others behind. While he was there,he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. 20 They asked him to stay longer,but he declined. 21 As he left,however,he said,”I will come back later,God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 The next stop was at the port of Caesarea. From there he went up and visited the church at Jerusalem and then went back to Antioch. (NLT)
There is a time to stay where we are and a time to move on. A time to embrace a new season and a time to be immersed in the present season. A time to go along with the requests of others and a time to resist those requests. Which is what Paul did when the people at Ephesus begged him to stay with them. Paul stayed a long time in some places (and would have a long stay in Ephesus later on),but he also made fleeting visits to other places.
Such is the nature of our faith journey. We strike a balance between standing firm in our present circumstances and moving on to fresh situations. We may rush on to embrace a new season out of sheer frustration at our present season. We have no staying power or stickability. Then again,we can avoid embracing a new season out of fear; we are comfortable where we are and can’t envisage ourselves anywhere else.
It is well for any follower of Jesus to not only persevere where they are but also to accept there is a time to move on,a time when a season has ended. It is well for us to heed the words of the poet Robert Frost:
Ah,when to the heart of man
was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
to yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
of a love or a season?
Clinging too tightly to the old season might mean missing out on a new one. Clinging too tightly to a former dream might mean we never dream a new and better dream.
Blessings
David Reay