Acts 28:7-10
English Standard
Version (ESV)
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the
chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us
hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick
with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and (A)prayed, and (B)putting his hands on him healed him. 9 And
when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases
also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly,[a] and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever
we needed.
In this passage as well as the
previous one Paul once again used actions to display the love of Christ. However, his testimony is not recorded in
these passages nor is there any mention that he spoke of Christ to these
people. It is evident that they were
very caring people but maybe they are like some people in this world that think
being good is enough and are closed to the Gospel of Christ. If any of these people would have received Christ
I think that it would have been mentioned just as it has been mentioned in
other passages.
To me, what I read, is that God
allowed Paul to perform miracles for maybe three reasons:
1.
Always to exemplify the power of God;
2.
To
be a witness to those Paul was traveling with;
3.
To
provide for his physical needs and the needs of those traveling with him.
Whatever the reason, God had a
plan and it would be fulfilled. It could
be that Paul was silent for these reasons:
1.
He was preparing for his trial in Rome, so God
was speaking to him and he was listening.
If we only ministering and not listening we can forget that we need to
fuel up;
2.
For
some reason God did not propel him to speak;
3.
Language
barrier: Even though Paul may have been
able to speak in tongues, possibly God did not allow him to speak in this
native language. It could be assumed by
the fact that their interactions were all by actions not words. Received
and entertained; Healed; People brought their sick. The only
mention of communication was through prayer to the Father.
4.
Paul
knew that it was important to gain supplies and was working for his keep and
his traveling companions rather than sharing the Gospel. Not likely, as he did
not minister this way anywhere else in scripture but rather earned his keep
through physical labor. Given the
situation they just came through though, he may not have had the strength to do
physical labor and this was a way God provided for his needs.
Whatever the reason, it was in
God’s plan. Just like it is today. We need to obey God when He tells us to speak
and we need to keep quiet when He asked us to listen. We do know that these people did see Paul as
someone special and all of their needs were met. You have to know that this was
a testimony to those traveling companions as well as to the people on that island.
As you seek Him know that He will
direct you when to speak and when to be silent.
It is up to you to obey to Him!
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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