Nothing Deters God’s Plans
For two whole years Paul stayed in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Acts 28:30
When Paul was bitten by a viper, the people of Malta thought he was a murderer being divinely judged for his crime (v. 4). Then when Paul didn’t die, the people decided he must be a god (v. 6). Their conclusions in both instances, of course, were wrong. And what did they think when the father of Publius, Malta’s chief official, was healed, or when many others on the island were cured? (v. 9) They may have heaped praise and gifts on Paul, as well as honor (v. 10). 
But Paul was neither murderer, a god, or a divine healer. He was a servant of the one true God, who had promised to protect him and get him safely to Rome. Paul knew that everything good thing that happened, and every bad thing too, were all part of God’s plan for his life.
When he arrived in Rome, he was given special treatment at first. Luke writes, “Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him” (Acts 28:16). That, too, was God’s plan for Paul so he could declare the gospel to the Jewish leaders in Rome (28:17–23) and then to anyone and everyone who came to see him (v. 30).
Paul’s journey to Rome had begun at least three years earlier when the Roman commander Lysias protected him from the Jewish mob in Jerusalem. Detainment in Jerusalem and Caesarea, a shipwreck, a snakebite—nothing prevented God from getting Paul to Rome.
That encourages me. It also reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Philippians years later: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6).
And when Paul’s rented house was taken from him, and he was chained to guards in a prison cell, he said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11).
I haven’t reached Paul’s state of contentment yet. On plenty of days, I complain to God about is or isn’t happening in my life or the lives of my loved ones. But if I sit and read my Bible, and pray, then God usually helps me move from complaints to gratitude. I can claim the promise given in Philippians 1:6. I know he isn’t finished yet. And even as difficulties and disappointments continue, I know God is with me and will stay with me until I reach my final destination—heaven. Nothing can prevent him from bringing me or you safely to our eternal home.
Whatever is going on in your life right now—honor or humiliation, kindness or cruelty, abundance or lack—God is with you. He is for you. He will complete every good plan he has ordained for you in his time and according to his will. Will you trust him as Paul did?
Dig Deeper
What counsel did Paul give the Christians in Colosse in Colossians 4:2–6? How can you put at least one of those principles into practice this week?
How did Paul learn to be content whatever the circumstances? Read Philippians 4:4–9.
Read Job 42:2 and Jeremiah 32:17–19. Both Job and Jeremiah went through many trials. How can you adopt their mindset in your current situation? Talk to God about your struggle to hold on to hope.
Denise K. Loock
This devotion is the final devotion in our series on the book of Acts.