Let Go Let God

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LET GO, LET GOD

Acts 13:6-12

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

NIV

It is interesting that blindness to the truth caused blindness. Paul did not pull any punches and called this false prophet out. Spoke as plain as he could, telling Elymas that he was a child of the devil. Paul was also filled with the Holy Spirit, who was the revealer of the truth about Elymas the sorcerer. Through the power of the Spirit, Paul was also able to simply speak physical blindness upon Elymas. How is it that the Spirit did so much in the life of men like Paul, Peter, John, Barnabas, Luke, and so many others and today the Spirit seems a little less active? Why is that, it has to be us, for we know God does not change, and the Holy Spirit is God. What is different between those who believed back then and us today who believe? Would we ever be bold enough to tell someone they are a child of the devil? Although in this case, the Spirit caused blindness in a man, He can also cause healing in people, give visions, and manifest all sorts of gifts and fruit in a believer’s life. Perhaps men like Paul had more faith than us. But then we know that God does not show favoritism and he gives every man a measure of faith, therefore, without showing favoritism he measures the same amount of faith for everyone. Because faith is a gift from God, he gave Paul and us the same measure of faith. The difference is that Paul exercised his portion of faith, and his faith became stronger and stronger and maybe we are letting ours wither away becoming weaker and weaker. On the other hand, Paul simply believed, and maybe we really do not believe as much as Paul did. What we know is that the Holy Spirit has not decided to stop working in the lives of believers, therefore we only need to allow him full access and the power will flow through us, as it did in the life of Paul. The one other difference could be centered around doubt. We know Paul had no doubt about the working of the Spirit in his life, and we must assess whether doubt plays any role in our lives. Maybe we just must let go and let God do what he does best.