Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Father God, help me to quiet my spirit, to hear your voice from your word, and to respond as You desire.

“Timing is everything.” Have you heard this? Can you think of a time in your life when timing was everything?

It might be better stated as God’s timing is everything - or better, God’s timing is perfect.

Life is hard and full of tough spots. Acts 23 sets up a tough spot, to say the least. More than forty men had pledged to not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. So regardless of how bad things are for you today, take comfort that you aren’t the object of a ‘kill pact.’ The fact is - life is hard. The more important fact is that God is over every aspect of your life and cares for you more deeply than I’m equipped to communicate.

Paul’s nephew in verse 16 hears of this ‘kill pact’ and informs Paul of the planned ambush. Paul instructs a centurion to take his nephew to the tribune and inform him of this plot. In verse 19, the tribune took the young man off to the side and asked him privately, “What do you wish to tell me?” The nephew shares his news and the tribune instructs him to tell no one. The tribune calls two centurions to ready two hundred soldiers with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen in the third hour of the night. And later that night, in verse 31, the soldiers took Paul by night to Antipatris.

Paul wasn’t set free but rather delivered to Governor Felix. The plotted ‘kill pact’ had been averted in the middle of the night thanks to Paul’s young nephew.

Many would attribute this to fortunate timing and the young nephew coming to the rescue - a response many of us might have when we don’t see the grace and mercy of our Creator due to some uncomfortable circumstances.

Take a moment to reflect and ask God to reveal a time in your life where His grace and providence was at work in your life, unbeknownst to you. A heart of gratitude around these amazing moments can do wonders for our spiritual walk if we have the awareness to recognize them. Share with someone today about an amazing time in your life when “God’s timing was perfect.”

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Prayer: God, thank You for the grace and mercy You pour out on my life. Help me to see and appreciate these moments. Give me a heart of gratefulness, one that celebrates all You do in my life.

Family Devo: Paul In Prison

By: Scott Strahan

Recall from yesterday that Paul was in a Roman prison, and the guard had called the Jewish leaders together to explain why Paul should be punished. In Acts 23, Paul is allowed to tell the Jewish leaders more about himself and to answer their questions. Paul and the chief priest got off to a bad start when Paul told him he was being hypocritical. However, Paul did not know the man was the chief priest, so he apologized for unknowingly speaking “evil of the ruler of your people” (Exodus 22:28).

There’s another lesson: Apologize to others when you realize you have treated them unkindly or disrespectfully!

As Paul listened (remember what we learned earlier about listening from James 1:19?) to the Jewish leaders talk among themselves, he realized even they didn’t agree on everything. Paul shouted in the middle of their conversation that he was a Pharisee just like some of the leaders, and that got the Sadducees arguing with the Pharisees to the point that the Pharisees took Paul’s side and said he had done nothing wrong.

In all this commotion, the Roman guard had him taken down to a jail cell to protect Paul from being injured in case a fight broke out among the Jewish leaders! The next night, probably as Paul wondered what would happen to him, Jesus spoke to him, told him not to worry, reassured him, and encouraged him (v. 11).

While all that was going on inside the prison, there was a group of particularly evil Jews outside that were planning to capture and kill Paul. They secretly arranged with the Jewish leaders to move Paul to a different location so they would have an opportunity to capture him. When the Roman guards learned of their scheme, they had Paul taken under heavy guard to the governor, Felix.

The lesson? Even in the worst of times, God is always there beside those who believe in Him.

• Prayer: Lord, thank You for preserving Your word after all these years, and for showing us through the lives of other believers how You help us through the darkest times – when we are scared, lonely, mistreated, and when others say things about us that are untrue. Help us to learn from Paul and his faith in God. Amen