Acts 18 Devotional

His People Already in the City

“For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.””Acts 18:10 (BSB)

Corinth is not easy. Paul works with his hands as a tentmaker beside Aquila and Priscilla, and every Sabbath he reasons in the synagogue (18:3-4). When opposition turns to insults, he moves next door, and the synagogue leader Crispus believes (18:6-8). Then one night the Lord speaks to him in a vision. Paul is not to be afraid or fall silent, because the Lord is with him, no one will harm him, and many people in that city already belong to the Lord (18:9-10).

That promise rests entirely on God. Before most of the Corinthians had ever heard of Jesus, the Lord already called them his people. Paul's task was simply to keep speaking while God gathered those who were his. Later, when the gifted preacher Apollos needs a fuller understanding, Priscilla and Aquila take him aside and explain the way of God more accurately, and he becomes a great help to those who had believed by grace (18:26-27). Wherever you live and work, the Lord is already ahead of you there.

To think about: Where do you need to remember today that the Lord is already at work, so you can keep speaking and serving without fear?