Focal Passage: Acts 20:18-32
One of the hardest things a parent has to do is to release a child into the world to face life on their own. No longer are we be able to shield them from the harsh realities, heartaches and heartbreaks of the fallen world in which we live.
No longer can we stand guard at the door of their lives and fight off those who would take advantage of them or who seek to harm them. And even if they launch well, our minds are always on them and we worry about them constantly. We do this because we love them and they are dear to us.
It has been much the same for me in every change I have made in my ministry. Even though there was excitement for the future opportunity, the hardest sermon to preach was the last one before leaving the church I was in. Goodbyes can, and in my case, were difficult. Thoughts run through your mind like, “Did I teach them everything that God wanted them to know?” “Are they going to be all right?” “Did I leave them in good shape and in good hands?” How should we deal with these emotions as a believer?
Nimmo
In this week’s lesson we see something similar in the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul had made the decision to return to Jerusalem. Leaving Troas, Paul and his companions made their way to Miletus, bypassing Ephesus. He did this because he wanted to reach Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost.
From Miletus, Paul sent for the elders at Ephesus to join him so he could say goodbye. Paul spent over three years with the church at Ephesus. He loved them dearly and wanted them to know of his genuine concern for them and the work they had accomplished for God together. He also charged them to continue the work and to take care of the flock with genuine love just as he had done.
He concludes by reminding them to guard against false teachings and teachers that would attack the church from the outside and from the inside as well. After that, Paul then commits them into the very capable hands of God.
I asked the question earlier. As believers, how do you deal with emotions of worry, concern and helplessness when we have to let those we love go to find their own place in God’s will? How do we find peace and assurance in knowing we won’t be there to protect them, especially now in the woke culture of the world in which we live today.
Paul gives us an example in our lesson today. We are to love genuinely, stay committed to the truth of God’s Word, act according to the grace we have been given and to trust God completely with the outcome. Great advice for all of us to follow. B&R
