Acts 6:8-15
New International
Version (NIV)
8 Now Stephen, a man full
of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose,
however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews
of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began
to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand
up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly
persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words
against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the
people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and
brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false
witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy
place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him
say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs
Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in
the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like
the face of an angel.
Remember,
Stephen was one of the men chosen to take care of the widows, one of the first
deacons of the church. He was chosen so
the apostles could continue their work of preaching the Word. Yet, here we read that Stephen did not limit
his duties solely to taking care of the widows.
He too was given signs and wonders among the people. He also taught and was full of wisdom. Then, jealousy poked its awful head out again
and people began to plot against Stephen.
They did not like it that he was full of wisdom and they could not get
him to slip up, so they made up a slip up, and caused him to be brought to the
authorities.
Yet,
look at the description of Stephen, he had a face of an angel. I envision it being a face of contentment
with a glow about it. Even in his
distress, he found contentment in the Father.
I generally have a much different appearance when I am under distress. My entire body feels beaten, I feel sick at
my stomach and there appears to be a frown on my face. I try to smile but it hurts too bad and is so
fake that I can’t stand it. I have been told to, “fake it until I make it,” but I believe that faking is a lie. I think our motto should be “Put your trust
in Him so you can take it!” It doesn’t
rhyme but is more true to Him.
Stephen
wasn’t faking it, he put his whole entire trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and he
was content to rest in Him. I am sure
Stephen did not want to be in the predicament that he was in but he used it to
once again witness to those who did not believe. The end result, we will see later but for
now, seek Him and rest in the assurance that He has you in His care.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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