Have you ever gotten obsessed with a passage of scripture? Having a verse or passage just pop off the page and speak to you in a new way is such a great feeling!
For the past few weeks, I’ve been a little (ok, a lot!) obsessed with Acts 18. The Apostle Paul’s life and ministry are both so fascinating! What a privilege it is that God has blessed us with the ability to read about his journey as he spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. As believers, Paul is so often the standard that we strive to be. A man who was, not only willing to preach the salvation message of Jesus in the face of danger, but was excited to! And that excitement, in spite of all the difficult and challenging circumstances that Paul often dealt with, could not be extinguished or even diminished in the slightest.
What I’ve found intriguing about Paul’s account in Acts 18 is that, for all of the great things that Paul strived to do for Jesus and for all of his impressive accomplishments of healing the sick, planting churches and continually teaching and encouraging churches and believers, he didn’t attempt to do it all on his own. And I’m not just talking about relying on Jesus instead of his own strength or understanding. Paul made it a point in his life’s journeys and ministry to greatly include and involve others.
You see, no matter where you’re at as a Christian, you aren’t meant to go through your journey alone. If you’re a new Christian, you need seasoned believers to help guide you, answer questions for you and give you wisdom. In fact, even if you’re a pastor, a missionary or have been a Christian for 70 years, you need the exact same thing! For the seasons that we go through in our lives, we need the people that God wants to place in our lives. And they need you, too. We need each other!
As General Baptists, we know this, don’t we? Our mantra has been based around “doing together.” And while it’s great to see each other at the M&M Summit in the summer, to serve on various boards or groups, or simply to spending time together at the new regional events (you are going to your regional events, right?!), there are times when I’m left with this question: Even though I’m involved in all of these church and denomination activities and groups, why are there times when I feel like I’m on an island?
Maybe you’ve felt like that, at times, too. Maybe you’ve been genuinely happy when you hear other pastors talk about how great things are going at their churches, only to be left wondering why those same great things don’t seem to be happening at your church. Maybe you’ve felt a little isolated when you hear the number of salvations or baptisms from other churches. Times when it feels like God is doing awesome things at other churches, with other pastors or ministry leaders or, even simply other Christians, but not in your situation.
As Christians, we know that life is full of peaks and valleys. We hear sermons on it and sing songs about it. My fear, though, is what we might miss out on in the times when it feels like you’re in a valley. Because, those chapters of life, when things aren’t going how you hoped they would or when Satan really hits you hard, it can be easy to lose sight of anything other than the solution to whatever you’re going through.
Thinking about a time when things will be better or your situation will change usually brings a sense of hope. A hope that God is working all things out for the good of those who love Him. In those times when we’re in the valley, that’s a great verse to cling to, isn’t it? That’s a hopeful verse, for sure. However, there’s something that can be easy to miss in that scripture—it’s a scripture for where you’re at right now! Not just for down the road when things get better. Instead, it’s a verse for right now, in the meantime.
Check out the definition of meantime: the time before something happens or before a specified period ends. I love that! And that’s because we’re usually, as Christians, in the meantime! We’re so often in a time before something happens. We’re so often in the time before a specified period ends. In other words, a time when it feels like God isn’t really doing anything. Or when it feels like nothing is changing in your situation.
The “meantime” can often feel like it goes on for far too long. When you know, deep down, that God has plans for you, plans for your family, plans for your ministry or for your church…but those plans don’t seem to be coming to fruition. The meantime can be tough to go through! Here’s the challenge for us: don’t miss what God has for you in the meantime!
You see, Paul went through a lot of meantimes! Times in prison, being shipwrecked and under house arrest. But he NEVER let those meantimes go to waste! And one of the things that’s struck me deeply about Acts 18 is how God led Paul, in his meantime of being bi-vocational and trying to plant a church in Corinth, to a couple named Priscilla and Aquila. As Paul met with the Corinthian people, “in weakness, with great fear and trembling (1 Corinthians 2:3), God blessed Paul with a dynamic duo that would help him, encourage him, travel with him, mentor other believers and future leaders, plant a church with him and start a church in their own home.
Paul didn’t dismiss or wish away his meantime! Instead, he allowed God to continue to work in his life and he didn’t do it alone. Don’t miss what and who God has for you in your meantime!
About the Author: Jonathan Hubbs serves as the lead pastor at Lane Avenue Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He’s passionate about helping people deepen their discipleship journey with Jesus Christ. For questions or comments, please reach out to him at pastorjonathanh@gmail.com
