Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Our theme is Training Disciples, but sometimes that is simply recognizing and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Barnabas and Saul had already been trained by Him, and here He is telling the group that it is time for these two to go on to the next step. God’s training is largely on-the-job! We may think we aren’t ready, but if God says “Go,” we had better go! Conversely, we may think we are ready for a particular role, but God says “Not yet.” That’s very hard on the pride, but anything that tears down our pride and exalts Jesus is an excellent thing, and we should be grateful. Discernment is essential here. We may well not recognize on our own what God’s next step for us is, so trusted, mature siblings-in-Christ are invaluable. Here, God speaks to the whole group, and that is ideal. These men were obviously in a peer relationship, functioning together in the church, so there was no danger of a top-down command structure – except that the Holy Spirit was obviously at the top! Reading through all of Acts, it is clear that Barnabas and Saul/Paul had different personalities and gifting, and we need to remember that. Just because someone is different from you doesn’t mean they are inferior, or superior, for that matter. Gaining that awareness is a vital part of growing as Christ’s disciples. We all need each other. I’m sure it gave Barnabas and Paul great assurance as they set out on this first of all missionary journeys that the whole group was in agreement that this was what the Holy Spirit was directing. We have no record of exactly how He spoke to them, but my guess is that it was through prophecy by one of their number, and then confirmation in the hearts of all the others. The great lack of importance of that detail is indicated by the fact that it wasn’t even recorded. We too need to focus on the Lord and what He is saying to us, rather than on what means He is using to do so.

My on-the-job training has certainly been far greater than anything I have done academically! I remember very distinctly my own experience most like what is related here. The first Sunday of January, 1974, Cathy and I were attending University Hills Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado. The speaker was a missionary to Vietnam, who had had to leave because of the war going on. At some point in the message, one of us turned to the other and said, “Do you want to sell the trailer and move to Japan?” To this day, neither of us has any idea who spoke first, because we were in total agreement by and with the Holy Spirit. The housing market in Denver was very depressed at the time, but in just two months, on March 1^st, we arrived in Fukuoka, met by my parents. That’s just about as fast as what is described here in Acts! Our life since hardly felt like a straight line in the process, but looking back over it, it looks as straight as an arrow, quite inevitable, in fact. I am to remember that and receive each of the lessons God gives me with gratitude, even when they are difficult or even painful at the time. God’s plans are always good, (Jeremiah 29:11) and I am to receive them with joy, knowing that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for making clear, in many different ways, that our recent trip to the US was Your plan. Thank You for all that You did in those three weeks, both in us and through us. We are just getting our feet back on the ground here, with jetlag and all the things that have piled up in our absence, but You are in this, too. I ask You to enable us to keep our eyes on You so that all of Your purposes for everything may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!