Read Acts 5
Kim Wheeler
A few weeks ago, I sensed the Lord asking me to make a phone call to someone I hadn’t talked to in a while. I was hesitant because my last interaction with this person had left me feeling discouraged, but I wanted to be obedient to what God was asking me to do. Not only that, but I also reasoned that if the Lord was asking me to make this call, He must be going to redeem the previous conversation I had with this person. However, the second phone call was not encouraging either. Someone who knows the situation asked me, “Why do you keep trying?” I deemed it unsuccessful. But what is success? How do we measure it? Is it in the evidence of our circumstances, or is it in the obedience of our lives?
In Acts 5, the apostles are doing what they had been told to do by Jesus and led to do by the Holy Spirit, yet they are in trouble with the religious leaders. They have been obedient to the Lord, but that obedience has landed them in jail, then to a hearing in front of the council, then to a severe beating. Circumstances look like they aren’t successful. People watching from a distance might say things are a mess and what they are doing is useless. But Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, brings a profound truth to the situation. He says in Acts 5:38-39, “… if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you
cannot overthrow it…”
This is a principle that we can hold on to. Circumstances don’t dictate what God is doing; outward appearances don’t always show us the reality of a situation. I don’t know what my phone call accomplished, but I now choose to believe something happened. What matters above everything else is this: What is God saying, and are we being obedient to His voice? Obedience, not outcome, is the true measure of success, and we can be assured that what God has invited us into, He will see to fruition. He is God, and His plans will not be overthrown.
Prayer Prompt:
Ask the Lord to remind you of a time you were obedient to His voice. Did the outcome look like you expected? If so, thank Him for the grace to see what He is doing. If not, pray this prayer: God, thank You that You speak to us. Holy Spirit, empower us to be obedient to what we sense God says. Today, I bless the work You are doing, Lord. Even when I can’t see it in my circumstances, I will choose to trust that Your plans will not be overthrown and something great is happening.
