Day 92: Stephen

Acts 6-7; Deuteronomy 28; Job 17

Wow, Stephen’s story is a powerful one.  He was the first name that comes to everyone’s mind when they need someone “respected and wise and filled with God’s spirit” to take care of giving supplies to the widows.  He must have been a man of great faith and compassion in order to be the first selected to carry out this duty.  Then, God gave Stephen great powers to work miracles; he was clearly ordained by God to carry a large responsibility for the kingdom of God.  But did that mean that his life would be easy since God was with him?  Apparently, being chosen by God to do wondrous things does not make a person immune to problems.  The unhappy people turned many others against Stephen, to the point that they wanted to publically ridicule and eventual kill him.  I think sometimes, as believers, we expect to have this Holy Spirit bubble around us that protects us from critical opinions, hurtful words, biting criticism.  But the truth is, those who call Jesus their Savior, will have to suffer for that belief, scripture is very clear about that and Stephen’s story is evidence.  But, instead of running away, hiding his amazing gift, and not making an impact in the world, Stephen, in the midst of his persecution, presents God’s story.  I can imagine him standing in the middle of a room, surrounded by angry priests and teachers, and speaking God’s message to them with power and conviction.  He demonstrated that he was not against God, but that he was a messenger of him.  The use of “our ancestors” throughout his story probably angered the priest even more, because Stephen was pointing that they were of the same family.  He tells those men to their faces that they have refused to follow what God has said and instead followed their own stubborn ways.

And how does Stephen’s story end?  With everyone repenting and coming to faith in Jesus?  Unfortunately, no.  The priests and teachers do not repent, instead they get so angry that they drag him out into the street like a criminal or an animal, and stone him to death.  It would seem that Stephen’s life and ministry was wasted—and yet, Stephen’s story lives on, thousands of years later, and it touches my heart.  His life was not wasted!  I’m moved by his story as I’m sure many others are.  So, because I’m a follower of Jesus, do I have a call to do something for the kingdom of heaven?  Yes.  Is it going to be easy?  Probably not.  Am I going to face persecution and judgment?  Probably so.  Will it be worth it?  Absolutely.  The reason it is worth it, is that the message of Jesus, the beauty of salvation, is so much bigger than me.  I’m just a small piece in a million piece puzzle, but without me doing my job, something is missing.  God gave us certain gifts, and we must use those gifts or they are lost.

The curses of Deuteronomy are terrifying.  What it describes is a land that doesn’t follow the Lord—a lot like the world today.  Sin is that enemy that comes and tears down walls, causes poverty, hunger, brutality, fear.  All we have to do is look around and we will see just how true these passages are today.  Mothers will eat their children?  Isn’t that what child abuse, molestation, and abortion are?  It is disgusting and horrifying that we are living in a world so torn and broken by sin.  What is the answer?  Jesus Christ.  There is nothing else that can fix the problems of this world.