God works through suffering
Have you ever had to defend yourself in front of someone more powerful? Perhaps your school principal or workplace boss?
At the end of Acts 6, Stephen got arrested, and he now stands before the same religious leaders as Peter did earlier. But instead of defending himself, he tells the story of Israel. From Abraham to Moses, from the desert to the temple. Time and again, he shows that while God is faithful, the people resist.
His words build up to a confronting conclusion: just as your ancestors rejected the prophets, so you have now rejected the Righteous One. Stephen delivers no easy message, but the truth, spoken with love and compassion.
The crowd is furious. When Stephen then tells them that he sees heaven opened and Jesus standing at God’s right hand, they have had enough. They throw him out of the city to stone him.
As the stones strike him, he prays: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59), and, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). It is an echo of Jesus’ words on the cross.
Stephen loses his life, but his message remains unchanged.
Saul is mentioned as the guy who guards the cloaks while others stone Stephen. He doesn’t know it yet, but although he is currently a feared man and a forerunner for persecuting Christians, he, too, will soon become an apostle of Jesus. We don’t know if the events of that day moved him in any way; all we know is that he approved.
But God was not unmoved; He turned this event, which must have been beyond traumatic for the early church, into one of the greatest testimonies of steadfast faith in the Bible. God works through suffering.
In which areas in your life are you challenged to stay faithful, even if it costs something?
