Last week we saw how in Acts 24:16 Paul said, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men." It's interesting to see that Paul had to guard himself from not only getting offended at people, but from getting offended at God as well. We all know that people can give us reason to get upset, but Paul included God in this statement as well. Let's examine this.

It would have been easy for Paul to blame God for all the conflict he experienced as a pioneer of the New Covenant. In most of the places where he preached about the unsearchable riches of Christ, many loved and received it, but many wanted to kill him as well. Paul could have thought, "God, I'm doing what YOU told me to do and I've been stoned, beaten with rods, whipped, punched, shipwrecked and left for dead. What's up with all of this?" Paul took, however, a different approach to these afflictions. He said in Acts 20:24, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."

Paul had to remind himself that God was not the cause of his troubles. People affected by tradition and demonic spirits were the source of the problems he encountered. He guarded himself from the "It's your fault God" syndrome and kept a proper perspective in regard to the challenges of life. Let's all be diligent to have the same attitude and realize that God is on our side. If God is then for us, no one can succeed as an adversary against us! Have a blessed celebration of our Lord's Resurrection this weekend.

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