Acts 14 Devotional

Kindness in Every Harvest

“Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.””Acts 14:17 (BSB)

At Lystra, a man lame from birth jumps up and walks at Paul's word, and the crowd decides the gods have come down in human form. They call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes (14:8-13). The apostles tear their clothes and rush into the crowd to stop it. They are only men, they insist, bringing good news so that the people will turn to the living God who made heaven, earth and sea (14:14-15).

Then they say something about how God treats even people who do not know him. God has never left himself without a witness to his goodness. He sends rain and crops in their season, and gives food that makes people glad (14:17). Every harvest is a message from him. Soon Paul is stoned and left for dead, and the apostles go back to strengthen the disciples, telling them that many hardships lie on the road into God's kingdom (14:19-22). Hardship does not cancel God's goodness. His kindness is already on your table, and it is meant to lead you to him.

To think about: What ordinary gift could you thank God for today as a sign of his goodness, even in a hard season?