In February of 2011, Andrew Wilson, an Australian fisherman was fishing off the coast of New South Wales when he was thrown from his boat by a large wave. Without a life jacket, but filled with adrenaline and tenacity, Wilson braved the shark-infested waters and simply kept swimming. “I wasn’t going to stop, so I just kept going.”
Wilson survived the ordeal with minor injuries. One local rescuer opined: “Lucky he was a strong swimmer.” The same could not be said for the disciples in Lystra, Antioch, and Iconium; in a way they were new swimmers and needed mentors—Paul and Barnabas—to strengthen and encourage them to keep going.
After experiencing a near-death stoning in Lystra at the hands of a violent mob (incited by Jews from Antioch and Iconium) and preaching the gospel in Derbe, Paul did the unexpected. He and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch—the very cities where their lives had been in danger!
Why would they return to those cities of potential harm? They could have taken a less arduous route and kept traveling southeast and visited Paul’s home in Tarsus. But Paul and Barnabas weren’t thinking of themselves; they were concerned about strengthening some “new believers” to keep going and not give up. They wanted to make sure the new disciples were spiritually healthy and had solid spiritual leadership.
We too have a responsibility to new or inexperienced believers in Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, let’s strengthen their souls, help them to depend on God in the face of pain, and to keep going in the midst of the dangerous waters of uncertainty, trial, and suffering. And let’s remind them that endurance is a hallmark of true Christian faith and it brings spiritual rewards.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 28:1-25
More:
Read John 8:31-32 and 15:4-10, and identify ways we can strengthen and encourage new believers in their walk with Jesus.
Next:
How does your church strengthen and encourage new believers? What younger Christian will you strengthen and encourage this week? How?
tom felten on April 2, 2012 at 10:18 am
Thanks, Marvin. I love these thoughts from Paul on endurance and perseverance—being living examples for those who are young in their faith: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:12-14).
elizamae on April 2, 2012 at 11:16 am
It occurs to me that while it was lucky he was a strong swimmer, plenty of strong swimmers may have despaired and given up. What mattered most was his willingness to keep trying.
I am often tempted to despair during times of trial. I need reminders that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, that he has overcome the world. I’m working on keeping that in the front of my mind.
tom felten on April 3, 2012 at 9:44 am
Good thoughts, elizamae. The verse you quoted, penned by Paul, is a great encouragement: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).