But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. (Acts 8:3-4)
The book of Acts is recording the persecution of Christians following the stoning of Stephen. Because of Saul’s work, people fled Jerusalem and went out to other cities and towns and, as Acts says, proclaimed the word. By trying to snuff out this growing movement, Saul’s actions had the opposite effect and caused the church to spread! It’s a great example of unintended consequences.
It’s also a great example of how God works. God has a funny way of making a way out of no way, of taking situations that seem hopeless or broken and making possible hope and healing. There are no dead ends with God, just more branches in the road. Or, as we like to say in the UCC, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma!”
This is different than thinking God causes bad things to happen to make good come out of them, or the idea that “It’s all part of God’s plan.” We humans have a funny way of disrupting God’s plans through our own selfishness, greed, and pride. That’s why grace is so important and why God’s real work is not in the past but rather taking in the past and shaping new possibilities for the future.
God did not cause Saul to persecute the early church. That was on Saul, and I don’t believe it was a part of God’s “plan.” However, God made it possible for the church to grow anyway, and God’s people took full advantage of that opportunity.
God makes a way out of no way. Our job is to see the best possibilities God lays out for us and for our world and then choose them knowing wherever the path leads, God is already there.
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