SCRIPTURE:
“Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38-19
OBSERVATION:
It’s interesting how Gamaliel a teacher of the law and a Pharisee spoke into the situation at hand. As a teacher of the law and more so a Pharisee, one would think that he would hold stout to the letter of the law and hold true to his conservatism, especially acknowledging that the Pharisees held strict observance to the Torah and Talmud at the time.
Therefore, what would prompt Gamaliel to support the apostles and indirectly become their ally? Perhaps in his wisdom he wanted to prevent a division in the council. However, was God using him to accomplish His will? I believe God was having His way.
Gamaliel states the fact and answer well when he says that if the apostles are from God, men will not be able to stop them. Gamaliel knew that God will have his way and that God’s plans cannot be thwarted when God’s people are obedient as the apostles were in their boldness and willingness to go to jail or be punished and flogged. When God’s people step forward in obedience and trust God, God will have his way, evening using non-believers or believers that perhaps do not agree in principle with us. The key is obedience and trust.
APPLICATION:
It’s so clear to me that in God’s plan for my life and ministry; if I am obedient, God will have His way and His plan will fall into place even if His plan means that I will have to walk through challenges that will teach me and grow my character.
My propensity in a corporate mentality has always been to strategically plan, take control of the situation and use all influence at my disposal to bring forth the desired results and outcome. Yet God is speaking to me to instead to follow His will by seeking Him first in all that I do, believing that He will guide me in my planning and endeavors. It is no longer a matter of positioning people and controlling the process, but positioning myself in the proper place with God and giving Him control of my heart and my mind that He will have His way. Then I become the vessel and instrument he designed me to be to accomplish His will.
PRAYER:
Lord, have your way in me. Please guide me to seek you first in all things, then to in obedience follow your prompting and subsequently trusting in the path you guide me to take, equipping me for any challenges that may arise and giving me the strength to persevere that I would grow in character and heart.
