That First Time - February 16, 2009

Good Monday morning! A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the story of Paul's first missionary journey to Philippi and the slave girl who he freed from the demon. This is in Acts chapter 16 if I recall correctly. One of the points Pastor Doug made was that Jesus does not want demons to speak for him. As I pondered that passage once more, I had another thought. What if God allowed that young girl to be possessed simply for the purpose of proving to Paul that he could exorcise demons? Sometimes an irritation can be a gateway to a new road for us in our Christian growth. The Bible tells of Paul's exasperation at the constant proclamation from the demon until he finally turned and commanded it to be gone. We might wonder why Paul let it go on if it bothered him. The answer may lie in that dreaded "first time". How do you or I, or even the great Paul, know whether we can do something that is a gift of the Spirit? Sooner or later we come to a place where we must try it. This incident may have been Paul's first experience with a possessed person and he may not have known whether or not he would be able to do this. Of course, we are told that Jesus is able to do this and it is our faith in Him and not our own skills or understanding that matters. However, that still leaves that "first time" for all of us to face.

There is a strong possibility that God allowed the demon to only do the one action with Paul, that of loudly proclaiming: "These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved." The demon did this until Paul could take it no longer. Possibly the young slave girl's voice was very loud and piercing, from what we know of young girls, this could very well be true. The Holy Spirit might have been telling Paul "you can do this in my name" but Paul needed just enough irritation to cause him to forget the fear and lean on the faith. We may face similar issues and God may send an irritation to get us past our fear and into faith in Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for caring enough to give us everything we need to be more than conquerors!

Have a great President's Day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky