carried along

But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.

Acts 25:25

As the pressures mounted against Paul by his accusers, the apostle made the calculated decision to utilize his ultimate right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. And now Festus and Agrippa are sorting out the details of the formal charges that will travel with Paul to Rome. Paul has gone full circuit in the call of God to bring the gospel to the Gentiles and now the Gentiles will bring the gospel, through Paul, to Rome. He will stand before the emperor himself in defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The man who once sought to destroy Christians will now stand in defense of his own life before Caesar for a faith he now protects.

The way in which these events occurred is a mix of the ordinary stuff of life and the sovereignly arranged work of God. God sovereignly saved Paul for this work. And Paul wound up in Roman rather than Jewish custody because a plot was made known by normal human means causing Rome to intervene, and now the rights of a Roman citizen in the judicial system could be utilized to their fullest potential. This is still the way the gospel advances, floating on a stream of human culture while the purposeful undercurrent of God’s sovereign hand carries it all along exactly where He wills it.

O Lord,

Use me as You will. In my ordinary day, please do Your extraordinary work with my life. Lead me where You will. Give me wisdom so my choices can help me to mature to be more like Your Son so that You may advance Your saving grace where You lead me to do so.

Amen