There will be times when some of those who we thought would support us, will turn their backs on us. One day we are loved and supported and the next day we are held at arms distance and rejected.
Some of those attacks will go further than just a disagreement. People will challenge our calling, even demanding we remain silent. It happened to Paul with those in the Jewish community who rejected his calling to reach beyond the Jews to embrace the Gentiles. Their disagreement was so strong, some wanted to kill Paul to silence him.
In the closing chapters of Acts, as Paul was being led to Rome to have an audience with Caesar, he would appear before a succession of government officials. One of those officials was Agrippa. As Paul was allowed to speak in his defense, he recited to Agrippa his personal testimony. He spoke what the Lord told him on the road to Damascus. Paul said during that event, he was blinded by the bright light of the experience. Paul told Agrippa what the Lord said to him during that encounter.
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me and tell them what I will show you in the future. And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles” (Acts 26:15-17).
Our calling may have us speak things that our own people, those we had previously been in relationship with, will label our calling as an error, like it was when Paul first told the Jews he had been called to reach out to the Gentiles. Paul’s assignment to go to the Gentiles was anathema to a Jew, but it was one of the core elements of Paul’s calling. He could not abandon that calling if he was to serve the Lord, no matter what kind of opposition he faced.
When Jesus said He would rescue Paul “from both your own people and the Gentiles“ it was a promise of a rescue that would surround the ministry of Paul as he moved forward toward the fulfillment of what God had called him to do in His name.
Everyone who is faithful to their calling will experience rejection from some of those in their own group who will disagree with how that calling is fulfilled. That rejection is part of the territory we will need to navigate through if we want to be faithful to the Lord and fulfill our calling. In the process, the Lord will reveal Himself as our Rescuer.
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