Rest on Every Side
Acts 28:30–31 (KJV) “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
The Apostle Paul had quite an interesting life; it was full of tumult. When he is introduced as Saul, he is a man on a mission to destroy the believers of Jesus Christ. He believed he was born to eradicate the plague that was called “the Way.” Then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and his entire life changed.
The Lord told him his call, which was to take Jesus to the Gentiles, to kings, and to all the children of Israel. In doing this, the Lord also told Paul that he would suffer for the name of the Lord. It is interesting that Saul was a persecutor of the church, and then Paul was persecuted everywhere he went for preaching about Jesus.
In 2 Corinthians 11:23–28, Paul tells us everything he has been through. The list includes the stripes he took (five times given the customary thirty-nine stripes), the prisons he was in, death and near-death experiences, being beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, one entire day in the ocean treading water, robbed, hungry, and thirsty—and everywhere he went he was bothered by heathens and the Jews. He had no rest in the city or the country, on or off the water. The man went through some things!
Why I chose this scripture was to talk about the rest that Paul received at the end, or near the end, of his life—and in peace and prosperity, he shared the Word of God in Rome for two years.
There are seasons of life when it seems there is peace on every side. I like those times, and so do you. 1 Kings 5:4 says, “But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.” The NIV says, “…God has given rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.”
During Joshua’s time, there was also a time of peace. Joshua 21:44 (NASB) says, “And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand.”
We know that Jesus has already won the battle over the devil, but the devil still raises his ugly head in some uprisings, and we must use our faith and the name of Jesus to put those uprisings in our lives down. There are times that we must use our faith and fight the good fight of faith—but there can also be seasons of peace on every side.
Paul, after a very turbulent ministry and life, spent two years in uninterrupted peace and prosperity, and people came to him to hear about the Kingdom of God and about all that Jesus had done for them. No one tried to stop him, and he didn’t have to worry about getting beaten or stoned. He was clothed, full of food, had a bed to sleep in, and life was great for him.
I just wanted to show you that even though Paul’s call was one of suffering for Jesus in the ministry—and not just suffering to be suffering, not suffering what the Lord has redeemed us all from—at the end, Paul shared the gospel with anyone and everyone who wanted to be taught by him, and he did it in peace, not looking over his shoulder wondering who was after him. God is going to give us some time like this, so let us use it wisely.
Peace to you!