Day Twenty-Two

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel. - Acts 14:5-7

Pressure reveals what is truly there. When something weak is placed under the weight of adversity, it breaks. But when something is strong, pressure proves its strength. People will not live and die for a story they know to be false. People will only live and die for something that stands up to a test. For Paul, and for us, that something is the good news of Jesus Christ; it is something true, powerful, and life changing.

After Paul encountered Christ, he was a changed man.  Instead of persecuting those who followed Jesus, he became a follower himself and later a martyr. The pressure of persecution revealed that Paul and Barnabas truly believed their message was worth risking everything, even their lives. Their mission was not about comfort, reputation, or safety; It was about the hope of the gospel.

When a violent plot was formed against them in Iconium, they did not stop preaching—they simply moved. They fled to Lystra and Derbe, and “there they continued to preach the gospel.” The mission did not end when opposition came. It found a new place to continue.

John Phillips captured this well:

Paul might be knocked down, but he was not knocked out. No foe could daunt him, no fear could haunt him. They could throw him out of Pisidian Antioch and chase him out of Iconium, but they could not stop him from preaching… There was no place where Paul was afraid to preach the gospel. He preached the gospel in Athens, the intellectual capital of the world, and was mocked; he preached the gospel in Jerusalem, the religious capital of the world, and was mobbed; he preached the gospel at Rome, the political capital of the world, and was martyred. But he preached the gospel.

We may never face the kind of persecution Paul and Barnabas did, but we will face resistance when we live out our faith. It may come from coworkers, family, or the culture around us. That pressure asks us a simple question: Is Jesus worth it?

Acts 14:7 shows us how the Kingdom advances: by continuing to preach the gospel. The good news is not limited by location or opposition. So, let’s go forward today with courage, trusting God as we walk in obedience, confident that Christ has already overcome the world!

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