5/29/08 "Acts of God - Acts of Man"

[D.Lang]

S Acts 5:38:39 38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave
these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of
human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be
able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against
God."


O While the apostles were standing before the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee
named Gamaliel stood up and asked to share his insite with the council
alone. The apostles went outside, and Gamaliel proceeded to tell the
Sanhedrin that there is no reason to put these men to death. His
explanation was very wise actually, and held truth. In my opinion,
God’s hand was strongly on this man’s heart as he spoke in their
defense. He explained that just as before in similar cases, they had
seen people revert back to their known ways, and things will fail when
it is something done by man. Only when it’s God, will people not be
able to stop what the apostles are doing. His reasoning made sense to
the Sanhedrin and they all just believed it was a passing thing that
would fade away in time. They ultimately believed that the men would
not succeed in whatever it was they were doing. They simply did not
like the truth being shoved in their faces, and there was anger being
shown because they did kill Jesus, and every chance the apostles had,
they reminded these men of how wrong they were for killing the living
God.


A I believe this was God’s hand resting upon the situation with His
apostles. He spared their lives at this time and got them out of a
hard position. He had work for them to do! The Pharisee spoke truth,
and it goes with everything we face in our lives. When I commit things
to what God’s plan is…it will never fail because it is His will, it
will happen at the perfect timing, and it will be known. If it is
something I force, or try to make happen because of my own motives, it
is most likely not going to make it, and if it fails I can rest
assured that God had a better plan than my own. The trick is to just
submit in prayer and patience to what He wants. Wait upon the Lord for
His movement, not forcing our agenda into plans. We can never lose
when it’s His perfect will!


P Lord, It seems easy to say those things, but very hard sometimes to
act in the right way. I commit to submitting to Your perfect will.
Please bring me strength as I wait upon You, and trust in the strength
You provide for me to do work for Your kingdom.
Amen