What Else? (Acts 21 ESV)

 The Apostle Paul's soul longed to tell others of Jesus.  So he did.  He did so even with the threat of persecution hanging over his head.  Oh, and not just the threat, the actual act of it, such as when he was being thrown or dragged out of a city and stoned or beaten.

In this 21st chapter of Acts, Paul longed to go to Jerusalem to fulfill a vow.  So he did.  He visited the other apostles and reported his missionary journeyings among the Gentiles and of all God was doing among them.

He had been warned though, not to go.  In the end he would not be persuaded against it.  So the persuaders said,

"Let the will of the Lord be done" (vs 14).

Sure enough the Jewish crowds got riled up.  They misunderstood and listened to the gossip.  They began mob beating him.  But he was rescued, barely by the skin of his teeth, by Roman soldiers.

There are times when God's messengers have been rescued by 'great fish' such as Jonah,  by angels such as Peter from prison and now Paul is rescued by soldiers.  Their lives had not yet completed their missions.

Whether it was by fear or disobedience, and then repentance or from a gross misunderstanding that God rescues us, it seems we will need to think of the 'what else' He wants us to do.

Acts 21 ends with a cliff-hanger,

" ... he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying ..." (vs 40 ESV).

Of course we can rush on to Acts 22 and read the 'what else' and 'what's next' but in our day-to-day lives we do not know what a day may bring forth (see James 4:14).  We can put our lives in our Lord's hands though and join the persuaders,

"Let the will of the Lord be done."

Our times are in His hands.

Jonah did finally complete his mission despite his great displeasure and anger.  Paul too, finished his race but a bit more graciously.  We can learn to trust our Lord to work together with Him for our own 'what else,' until Jesus comes or we go to be with Him before all others do.

Let's be faithful - long for it.

                                               ~  ERC  March 2026  ~

Based on Acts 21 ESV.

Sing, "Your Will Be Done", along with City Alight.