“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad…” – Acts 8:1
Sometimes God lets things fall apart so He can put His people right where He wants them.
In Acts 8, Stephen had just been stoned for preaching the truth (Acts 7:59–60), and now a full-blown persecution had broken out. This wasn’t just people mocking them online. Christians were being hunted down. Saul, a young man full of zeal but blind to truth, was leading the charge to destroy Christians.
“As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” – Acts 8:3
That word havock means total destruction. But here’s the strange thing; this awful moment became the push that sent the gospel beyond Jerusalem. The people scattered, and everywhere they went, they preached Jesus.
“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” – Acts 8:4
If life had stayed comfortable, they might’ve stayed put. But God used the pain to get the message moving.
And just when you think it couldn’t get more surprising, God saves the very man who caused the suffering. In Acts 9, Saul is on the road to Damascus, still breathing threats, when Jesus shows up and blinds him.
“And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” – Acts 9:6
Saul the persecutor becomes Paul the preacher.
When you look at all this, three big truths stand out:
1. God uses hard times to move His people where He wants them.
If everything stayed easy, we’d probably stay put. But suffering shakes us loose. It makes us move. In Acts, it pushed the believers out of Jerusalem and into the rest of the world with the gospel.
2. God can turn the worst situations (and people) into blessings.
He took Saul, public enemy number one, and made him a missionary. He took betrayal, slavery, sickness, and even crucifixion, and used it to bring salvation. If God can do that with them, He can do it with your situation too.
3. Your pain might be the setup for someone else’s salvation.
You don’t always suffer for you. Sometimes you suffer for the sake of someone else. A testimony, a conversation, a calling; all of it can come from trials you didn’t ask for. Your broken road might just be the path someone else needs to walk toward Jesus.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” – 2 Corinthians 4:17
So don’t waste the hurt. Don’t quit in the middle of the fire. God’s not done yet.
The suffering might be the very thing that brings salvation to someone else.
