Acts 18:9-10 “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

What strikes me first is that Paul must have been afraid, for God to speak to him like this. The image most people have of Paul is that he was never afraid of anything! All of us have human weaknesses, and we aren’t to be ashamed of that fact, but neither are we to use those weaknesses as excuses not to obey God. If we listen to God, as Paul did in this instance, we will overcome our weaknesses by the grace and power of God. It is also significant that, in this place where Paul was afraid, God had many people who were already His. We have no idea how God has already been working to prepare people’s hearts to receive the message. Sometimes those who seem to be in the fiercest opposition have the most dramatic conversions. We are not to prejudge people or situations, but be faithful to go where God says and speak as He directs, so that His plans may be fulfilled in and through us.

This is especially true in Japan, which has earned quite a reputation as the graveyard of missionaries. To this point, results have been very meager for all the effort invested, but there are occasionally people who repent and believe the first time they hear the Gospel. When that happens, it is an enormous encouragement. I am never to give up, or fear defeat, but rather be faithful in the work to which I have been assigned. My personal conviction is that there are indeed many in Omura who have already believed, but circumstances and the tricks of the enemy have kept them from active participation in the Body of Christ. God wants them to be brought in, to be strength­ened in their faith and equipped as disciples, to in turn go out and bring in many more. Right now it’s fair to say that every member of this church is under spiritual attack, but that’s all the more reason to rejoice, because it means we are really making the devil nervous. I need to lead the way in trusting obedience, so that everyone may step into the victory that God has planned for us.

Father, thank You for this strong, encouraging Word this morning. Help me not just hear it, but walk in it. As Cathy and I walk for exercise, help us do the spiritual warfare You know is needed, so that the chains the devil has had on this city may be broken and the people set free indeed, to repent and believe for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!