The Invisible Hand

Sermon Transcript

All of us have things going on in our lives. Some of it’s good; some of it’s not so good. All of us have things we enjoy that are happening in our lives. The flip side is the stuff that is not going well at all. I don’t know if it’s the same with you as it is with me, but I tend to focus on the negative stuff more than the positive stuff. It occupies my time more often as I think about how I get out of a situation or how I resolve a problem. Those are the kinds of things that keep us up at night and take our sleep away. We try to fix what’s broken and what should be different. So if you’re anything like I am, we focus on the negative rather than the positive.

That’s unfortunate, because God is always at work—even in those negative things—to turn them around to a positive. And we need to learn to trust Him in the process, even when we don’t understand why, the reason behind why or what the purpose is we’re going through the negative things. God is in the background, working and orchestrating things. And the ultimate end is for our good and for His glory.

There was a book written many years ago by R.C. Sproul, a theologian, who titled the book, The Invisible Hand. I took that title for my message today, because that’s really what I want us to focus on. That book is all about how God is always behind the scenes working in the circumstances of our lives—the good things, the bad things and the things that we don’t understand. He is working through those things to an ultimate end; that it will be for our good and for God’s glory.

And that book is based on a verse we are all familiar with: Romans 8:28. Many of us have quoted this to our friends when they’re going through rough times. We were trying to bring some perspective and comfort in their lives, so we say to them, “I know it’s tough right now, but the Bible tells us, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.’” Then there are other times when we’re on the receiving end of that; we are going through the difficult times, and our Christian friends remind us of Romans 8:28, and they quote it to us.

So we’re familiar with that verse, with that promise of God. But I don’t think we really reflect on the times that verse, that promise, is actually fulfilled in our lives. In fact, we can go through a hard time this week, and then a few weeks from now, those negative things God will have turned around and brought great good out of it. But at that point, we’re facing a new, rough time in our life, so we’ve forgotten about how God had already turned that previous situation around for good.

Here, in Acts 15 and 16, we’re going to see a series of situations, all of which are negative happenings that the Lord is going to turn around for His purpose, for the benefit of His people and for His glory. If it wasn’t for the fact that all these situations are connected in time, we would say that they are unrelated situations. But they are connected. In each situation, we see a negative become a positive—all because God is that invisible hand in the background working His wonders to bring about an ultimate end that is going to bless His people and glorify Himself.

We’re going to look at four instances individually, starting at Acts 15:36. “Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’ Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. So Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” This would be the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey.

But I want to give you the background on what is taking place. Paul and Barnabas were part of a church in Antioch five years earlier, and as this church was meeting and ministering, the Spirit of God spoke to Paul and Barnabas that He was sending them as missionaries to bring the Gospel to places of the world that had no knowledge of Jesus Christ and needed to know God and understand that Christ died for their sins. They were going to carry the Gospel to new areas.

So the church in Antioch sent these two out, and for a year they were to travel around to different towns and cities to proclaim the message of the Gospel and draw many people to Christ. In many locations, they did see people get saved. When that happened, they would disciple them for a time and often would plant a new church in that area. Then they went to the next place and carried. After a year, they returned to Antioch to tell the church all the things God did over that year—the good, the bad and the ugly, because part of their journey was blessed, but part of it was a struggle.

By this time in our text, five years have passed. Paul is now thinking about all those people Paul had a chance to minister to in the new churches they established. He was wondering how they were doing.

Back in that day they didn’t have an easy time staying in contact with those they knew. There was no email, no texting, no social media, so for five years, Paul was not connected with the people he had ministered to in previous years. His idea was to go back to find out what was going on. Were they healthy, growing in the Lord, was their church thriving? Or were they struggling; did they need to be put back on track?

This was on Paul’s heart and he shared it with his partner on the first trip, Barnabas. Barnabas thought it was a great idea. He suggested they also bring John Mark along. Paul’s response was, “Not on your life! We’re not taking him!”

John Mark had gone with them on their first missionary journey. Sometime during that year of ministry, he bailed out and returned home. He abandoned the ministry that they were a part of. Paul had trusted him and felt that John Mark broke that trust. “We needed him, and he abandoned us at the time we absolutely needed him! I cannot count on him. He failed us and I’m not going to risk him failing us again!”

On the other hand, Barnabas was saying, “Yes, but that was five years ago. He’s not the same guy. He’s grown up a little bit, so we need to give him another chance. I think he’s the right guy to join us in this ministry work.”

So they disagreed. But it wasn’t just a little disagreement. In verse 39 in the New King James translation, it is called a “contention.” In the King James translation, it’s called “a sharp disagreement.” From the Greek word for “contention” or “sharp disagreement,” our English translation is “violent outburst.” This wasn’t just a couple of guys who thought differently; they were entrenched in their views, and it was a hotly contested argument. They were going after each other and weren’t going to budge. They were really having it out!

I imagine if there were others who were around when they were hashing this out, they were shocked. “This are some of the church leaders>! These are missionaries! They should know better! Why are they acting like this?!” This is something that should not be happening between two brothers in the Lord.

Who was right? Paul or Barnabas? We need to understand that they each had very different personalities. They had ministered together, but they weren’t the same type of person. Paul was very much an A-type personality; he was a go-getter, he made plans and made sure those plans were carried out. He was surrounding himself with people who would help him accomplish those plans. And in his mind, John Mark had absolutely failed, so he wasn’t going to take another chance on him. He was going to make sure the people involved in this venture were the right people.

On the other hand, Barnabas was more of a nurturer, an encourager. He was the one who came alongside people who were struggling and would coach and direct them. He would help them along to get back on track. That was his personality. In fact, Barnabas is not even his birth name; in Acts 4, we find that it was Joseph. But everybody called him Barnabas; it meant “encourager.” He was known for being the guy who comes alongside you and boosts you up when you’re down. He’s going to direct you when you don’t know what to do or when you’re falling short. That was his personality.

So we see two very different personalities have very different responses to taking along John Mark. Paul said, “I’m not going to give him another chance; I’m not going to risk that failure.” And Barnabas said, “I think absolutely we need to take him.”

I don’t think either of them were wrong. I think both of them had the purpose of God in their hearts and minds. They were just seeing it from very different perspectives, because they were very different people.

But any way we look at it, it’s an ugly situation. It’s troublesome that two substantial men of God cannot get along and are literally going to part ways. Barnabas would take John Mark and go one way, and Paul would find a new partner, Silas, and go another way. We can look at this and say, “Wow! That’s so unfortunate! It should never have happened!”

But if we look at the results of what happened, we might come up with a different response. That’s because now there is not just one missionary team, there are two. Paul and Silas would go back to the places Paul had visited previously, and Barnabas would take John Mark to Cyprus to do some ministry there. Instead of one team going out, there are two teams going out.

But that’s not where the positive ends. The investment that Barnabas put into John Mark turned out to be a very good investment, because John Mark did make a turn around. Even the apostle Paul acknowledged that later; in 2 Timothy 4:11, he said, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.” By that time in Paul’s ministry, John Mark had made himself valuable. So the fact that Barnabas gave him a second chance, that he invested in him, was the right decision, because it became part of John Mark’s turn around.

It’s even more than that, because we have a Gospel named Mark. John Mark was the author of that Gospel. God would use this young man, who had been a failure, had abandoned his post, to write the message of Christ that has been read by millions of people over the centuries. And many have been led to Christ through that influence.

Sometimes bad things happen, even in our own relationships. Some of us may have serious conflicts going on in our lives right now with someone we just can’t get along with. Sometimes we think that there’s nothing good that will ever come out of this. But the invisible hand of God is oftentimes working where we don’t see that He is working. And he’s going to bring good into something that looks really bad.

Back in my younger, ministry days, I was a youth pastor in San Diego. I had a high school ministry of about 25 to 30 kids. We got together weekly for Bible studies and went on retreats and trips. I had one, young guy who invited a friend. The friend’s name was Matt. He was a larger-than-life kind of guy. He had a big personality, which was very attractive to the ladies in the group. And Matt was very attracted to the ladies as well. So he was getting a lot of attention from them, and he was paying them a lot of attention.

But as the youth pastor, that was a problem, because oftentimes the attention wasn’t where it should have been. I would find Matt paying too much attention to one of the girls. He asked some of them out on dates. That would take place, it would end badly and there would be a broken heart, the gossip chain started and then he would be on showing interest to somebody else in the group.

I was at a point where I just wanted Matt to go away. I remember one occasion I was in my car going about town and was stopped at a red light. I noticed at the intersection there was this yellow, beat up, old Ford Fiesta that looked like it came out of a junk yard. That was Matt’s car; I recognized it. I saw through the windshield that Matt was in the driver’s seat with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Then every negative thought came flooding through my head about this guy.
I remember praying, “Lord, I know You’re the Good Shepherd and will leave the ninety-nine and go after the one. But did you ever look at the ninety-nine and see one of them and wish that it would wander off and never come back?!” At that moment, that’s how I felt. I just wanted Matt to go away and never come back. In my mind, he was a problem that was never going to be fixed unless it disappeared.

Well, Matt didn’t go away. But in the next month or two, I noticed there was a change that was taking place in him. He actually was getting more interested in the Bible studies that we were having. He was still interested in the girls, but there also was an interest in the Bible and in God. So at one point I had a conversation with him. I said, “Matt, would you be interested in meeting with me on a weekly basis for some discipleship?” And he said, “Yes.” And we got together.

I remember on that first occasion that we sat down together, I said to him, “Matt, you have a problem. You have a girl problem. You pay way too much attention to them. And it’s not only a problem for you; you’re creating a problem for them. So if we’re going to do this discipleship, I’m going to ask something of you. I’m going to ask you to make a commitment that for six months, you will not date any girl, whether in or out of our group. You’re not going to spend time with them or flirt with them. They are off limits for six months, so you can focus on growing in a relationship with Christ. Would you agree with that?”

He thought about it for a second and said, “You’re on; I will do that.” And believe it or not, he did. He stopped flirting with the girls, avoided conversations with them and didn’t ask any of them out. He met with me on a weekly basis, and we did Bible study.

And I fully anticipated he was counting down the days when that six months would be over. But as it turned out, he wasn’t counting down the days. At the end of that six months, he didn’t immediately jump into dating girls again. He continued to stay single and focus on Jesus. And today Matt is a senior pastor of a church in San Diego, California.

I would have never thought, in a million years, that would have happened coming out of that beat up, yellow Ford Fiesta. But God was working behind the scenes in ways I could never have realized. And a guy I was so ready to completely write off, God was not writing off. God has a purpose and a plan.

Sometimes we write people off. There are people in our lives that we think are hopeless, who we think will never change, are more of a problem than they’re worth and we wish they would just go away. But you never know what God has in store.

In our text, there was a conflict taking place between two believers over a young man who had failed. But God had a plan for John Mark’s life. He was going to use John Mark, even to the point where the apostle Paul acknowledged that John Mark was not who he used to be. He was a changed man, who was actually useful to Paul in ministry. God had taken a bad situation and turned it around for good.

Now look what happens in Acts 16, starting in verse 1. “Then he…” that is, “Paul” “…came to Derbe and Lystra.” So we’re not going to follow Barnabas and John Mark as they go to Cyrus. We’re going to follow Paul and Silas as they go on Paul’s second missionary journey. “And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

Paul was in Lystra, a place he had gone to on his first missionary journey five years prior. That first visit to Lystra was forgettable, because it did not go well at all. Initially it looked like the people were responding, but in the end, the whole town turned their backs on Paul and Barnabas. Lystra was the place where Paul was stoned by its citizens to the point that they thought he was dead, so they dragged his body out of town. That was a way of telling someone that they didn’t want them there. But Paul recovered from that. We’re not sure if he actually died and God brought him back to life or he was close to death but revived.

But the conclusion was that the ministry didn’t go great in Lystra. It was a failed attempt to bring the Gospel to people who not only weren’t interested, but they really weren’t interested. So for the last five years, Paul probably had said, “Things did not go well in Lystra.”

Yet here he was back in Lystra. And when he arrived, he ran into Timothy. Who was Timothy? The Bible tells us that he was a disciple and that he was the son of a woman who believed. But later Paul would call Timothy “a true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2), which was very likely a way of saying that Paul had actually led Timothy to faith in Christ. That most assuredly would have happened on Paul’s first missionary journey.

Although it looked like that first ministry in Lystra was a complete disaster, that there was nothing good that came out of it, five years later Paul was seeing Timothy again and he was five years more mature in the Lord; so much so that the people were actually commending Timothy to Paul. So Paul chose Timothy to join them in the ministry work. Then Timothy became part of the team. But five years ago, there seemed to be no fruit whatsoever, yet now Paul was actually seeing the fruit that did come out of that first ministry in Lystra.

There might not have been abundant fruit at the time, but there was good fruit. Sometimes we look for an abundance of fruit out of our ministry or our life, and we don’t see it in abundance. Perhaps the fruit that is there is of high quality; Timothy no doubt was of high quality. Later he himself would become a pastor. Paul would later write two letters to this young pastor, 1 and 2 Timothy, encouraging him in his ministry.

But what initially looked like a disaster turned out to be effective ministry. In fact, verse 5 says, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.” What had begun five years prior that might have looked like miniscule success, was now bearing much fruit, because the churches were growing in that area. So what began as what almost looked like a fruitless endeavor turned out to be fruitful in the end. It was God’s hand working behind the scenes.

I had what I consider a non-Christian upbringing, although it had a residue of Christianity. Both my parents were raised in Christian homes, and as young adults, they were involved in ministry. But when they got married and had me and my siblings, their Christian involvement just faded out.

I do have recollections as a young boy of being taken to church, but it was infrequent. And I hated it. When my mom came into to my room on Sunday mornings and told me to get ready for church, I would run into the bathroom and lock the door and vow I would never come out until I wouldn’t have to go. I lost every one of those battles and had to go. Church wasn’t important to me; it wasn’t regular enough in our lives to make it important to me. It was taking a valuable day off away from me. I was having to go to Kindergarten Monday through Friday, and on my days off, I wanted to be with my friends. I wanted to play with G I Joes. So when it faded out of our lives, I was thrilled. From the time I was about eight years old, we weren’t going to church at all, and I was fine with that.

But I had a grandma, who I called Nana, who was a devout Christian. She loved the Lord. And I know that she was a praying grandma. And here I was having no interest in God whatsoever. I liked playing in the dirt, riding bikes, chasing lizards, and when I got into my teens, my whole ambition was to be a rock star. I was going to play before millions of girls screaming my name. That’s what my mind was focused on. But I had a praying Nana, and she always gave me gifts that were based on the Bible. As a kid I remember getting Jesus coloring books. Every Easter, every birthday, every Christmas I was going to get something from Nana that had a Christian theme to it.

I was taught by my parents to be very polite and to show respect; to smile and to say “Thank you.” When I was nine years old, at Christmas she brought a gift. For the first time I was hoping that it was going to be a toy or something super fun. But it was my very first Bible, a children’s Living Bible. I did what I was supposed to do; I smiled and said “Thank you,” I hugged her and when she was gone, I put that Bible in the farthest reaches of my closet and forgot about it. I never opened the thing.

When I was 15 years old, my Nana died. I was still that rock-n-roll, lizard-chasing, still- uninterested-in-Jesus boy. But I gave my life to the Lord the following year, when I was 16. A high-school buddy of mine gave his life to Christ and began talking to me about Jesus. That’s when God softened my heart, opened my eyes and I realized that’s what I needed in my life. But my Nana never saw that. She prayed and prayed for me but never saw it.

Now I imagine that those who are in heaven may be aware of what’s going on down here on earth. I have prayed multiple times that if my Nana doesn’t know, that the Lord would tell her. “Do you remember your grandson? All those prayers I answered, as he is now following after Me.”

Sometimes we invest ourselves in our family, in our friends but don’t see any results of that. In fact, we find that their hearts are getting harder and more distant. They even get angry when you bring it up. We can be of the mindset that this is just not going to happen; they are totally resistant. They are lost and are going to stay lost.

But God is still at work behind the scenes. The Spirit of God is nurturing those seeds that you planted, so that one day that person who you love may have their eyes opened and their heart softened and receive Christ. It may look bad right now, it may look bad for some time to come and you may not even see it before your life is over, but know that God, by His hand, is working behind the scenes, because of your prayers and your investment in that person’s life. You showed them the love of God and an example of what a Christian really is.

Then in verse 6 we read, “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

In this situation, Paul had a desire to go to certain locations. He had a plan to go to Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit prevented that from happening. So he decided to go north to Bithynia. Then the Spirit of God also shut that plan down. God closed the door.

Has that ever happened to you? You start making plans for your life, and it is going in a particular direction and then the door closes. So you make a plan B and start heading in that direction, and that door closes too. That can be very frustrating. Yet it happens often to us in life, because we are people who like to make plans. Maybe we have a career choice, so we start planning, going to school and working toward that end. And then somehow that door gets closed in our face. Or you’re in a relationship that you think is headed toward marriage, and that door gets slammed in your face. And you wonder, What in the world is going on?! And we can find ourselves staring at the closed door grieving and weeping over our plan that isn’t going to happen. Our heart is broken. Our life is crushed. It’s what we wanted, but it’s not going to happen.

So there we sit, hoping that door might open. We jiggle the handle to see if it’s unlocked. And we weep, not realizing that when God closes a door, it means He’s going to open another. But we’re not looking for another, because we’re focused on that closed door.

If God closes a door, we need to be people who realize that God’s ways are better than our ways. We don’t see the ultimate end that He sees. But if we can just trust Him enough to know that when He closes a door, that’s not a good door for us to go through. And if He opens a door that we didn’t anticipate, we ought to follow His lead and not make up our own plans or break down doors that should remain closed.

In our text, how is this door being closed? The Bible simply tells us that the Spirit prevented them, would “not permit them.” There are a lot of ways the Spirit could do that in our lives. Sometimes it’s inwardly; we sense that God is saying, “No.” We have to listen to that voice. Other times it’s more circumstantial, something that is happening outside of us that we would have plowed through, but something is now preventing us. We can’t go there. So that door has now been shut by circumstances.

In Paul’s case, I really think it was an illness he probably had. We know that Paul dealt with illnesses. At the time this was actually happening, Paul was in the region of Galatia. Later on he would write to the church at Galatia and say, “You know that because of physical infirmity, I preached the Gospel to you at the first” (Galatians 4:13). That’s a good indication that the reason he went to Galatia in the first place was because he had some sickness that resulted in him going there. But evidently he had other plans; he wanted to go somewhere else but ended up there because of his sickness.

Luke is the author of the book of Acts, writing this whole story. Up until now, he had been using the pronouns “they” and “them,” because he wasn’t part of the team. He was writing about what they were doing. In Acts 16:10, he now switches to “we.” He said, “Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” That means that this is the point at which Luke joined the missionary team. Luke was a doctor, which is another indication that the Holy Spirit was using Paul’s illness to close the doors.

Those of you who are facing illness in your life right now always see that as a barrier. But sometimes it’s a redirection. In Paul’s case, it might have been his illness that the Spirit was using to say, “That’s not the way I want you to go.” Then God gave him the open door to go through.

In the middle of the night, Paul had a dream, in which he saw a man who said to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us,” verse 9. So Paul woke up and realized that was how God was leading him. God had closed doors—he could not go north or south—but now God was showing him where He wanted Paul to go.

God will redirect us, and we often see the redirection as a negative. “I’m being shut down! Doors are slamming in my face! I’m not getting to do what I wanted to do! I made plans and they’ve just fallen apart!” But if God is shutting something down, it isn’t because He’s given up on you; it’s because He is redirecting your life somewhere else, to where His blessing is. He will redirect your to where He is going to use you, to where He wants you to be.

And that’s what happened in Paul’s case. God shut two doors but He opened one. That door was to Macedonia. So Paul and Silas went there to the city of Philippi. They proclaimed the Gospel there, and there were some people who were giving their lives to the Lord. But they hit a snag. There was a young woman there who was a fortune-teller. She was owned by the men who were profiting off her fortune-telling. Paul realized she was possessed by a demon, so he prayed and she was delivered from the demon. That took away her ability to tell fortunes. Her owners realized their financial windfall was gone and were mad.
So the owners stirred up the people in the city against Paul and Silas. Acts 16:20-24 says, “And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, ‘These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.’ Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

Notice that Paul and Silas were now doing what God wanted them to do. God wanted them to go to Macedonia; they were now in the region of Macedonia. They were expecting blessings to follow. But what happened there?

When you follow the Lord’s leading, you expect God’s blessings. Goodness is supposed to come into your life when you are in the center of God’s will. Instead, all the wheels fell off the wagon; they were persecuted, lied about, had the tar beaten out of them, were thrown into an inner prison, had their feet put in stocks—all in the middle of doing what God told them to do.

That’s not what we expect. We expect to follow the Lord and be blessed. It’s when you disobey the Lord that everything collapses. But here in this situation, they are in the center of God’s will and are suffering for it. That messes with us, because that’s not what we expect. We think something is wrong. And we oftentimes get angry at God because of it.

Let’s look at their reaction, verse 25. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” They weren’t yelling and screaming, they weren’t angry at God; they were actually praising God. They had lacerations on their body where the blood probably was still coagulating. They had welts that were still swelling and beginning to turn purple. But there they are praising God in the midst of this, and we think to ourselves, How could they possibly do that?!

In part, I think we need to see what God was doing in Paul’s life in the passages we just looked at. In each of these situations, there were bad things that were happening. But in each situation, God had turned it around for good. So Paul is now in a new, bad situation, but he is seeing the pattern. God’s hand is still upon him. “I don’t know what God is doing. I don’t know why He has allowed this to happen. But I know he has led me here and allowed me to be beaten up. And now I’m sitting in a prison cell and have nothing else to do but trust that He has a purpose and a plan for this—even death.” So rather than complaining, moaning and groaning, he trusts God and sings God’s praises.

And you probably know the rest of the story. In the middle of the night, an earthquake happened and the prison doors flew open, so the prisoners could escape. The jailer and guards, awakened by the earthquake, saw the open doors and assumed all the prisoners had fled. So the jailer drew his sword to commit suicide. But Paul said, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” (Acts 16:28). The jailer ran in, fell at Paul’s feet and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (verse 30). And that night the jailer and his entire household sat down, listened to Paul and gave their lives to Christ. That was God’s intent in allowing the suffering of Paul and Silas to happen.
None of us like to suffer, but if we are going to suffer, at least let there be a purpose for it. But many of us suffer without seeing any purpose, not understanding why. Because of who God is, because He is good and because He works the bad things around for good, we too can trust God like Paul and Silas did. We can trust in the midst of hardship, know that God will turn the hardship around, even though we don’t know how.

So if you’re suffering today, maybe even being in the center of God’s will, just know that the suffering is not in vain. God has a plan and a purpose; He will turn it around for good. And He did in Paul and Silas’ situation, because an entire family got saved.

As we looked at each of these stories—and each one of them is different—they are all woven together to show us that in bad circumstances, God is working behind the scenes to turn it around for our good and for God’s glory.

I don’t know what you’re facing today, but I imagine you’ve got some bad stuff going on in your life. But if you focus simply on all that bad stuff and aren’t looking for the invisible hand of God behind the scenes, you may miss it. God is faithful; He has not abandoned you. He is working.

You may see it in this lifetime; that the situation has turned around for good. But you may not until you are in the kingdom of heaven, and God is able to open your eyes to every time in your life when you thought that no good could ever come from that situation. He will point out the very things He was doing to bring good out of it.

Why does He do that? Because that is the kind of God that He is. He makes “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”