Small Beginnings

Ever wondered what triggers a positive change in the course of history? Now, let us not get too grandiose here, jumping to the affairs of nations and great causes. To do so would overlook the destinies of individuals, families and communities. Yet every avalanche has its small beginnings, so we should not despise the potential of a single dislodged stone.

For example, the Bible doesn’t trace to its ultimate conclusion the effects of a slave-girl’s deliverance in the Macedonian City of Philippi. However, her deliverance did lead to the salvation of a hardened jailer and his household. And do not forget that the slave-girl and the jailer were among the first soldiers recruited for the invasion of Europe with the good news. Perhaps, one day, you will trace the cause of your salvation to one or other of these two unlikely candidates for eternal life.

Be that as it may, it all began when Paul responded obediently to the voice of God. But how did Paul hear God’s voice on this occasion? It might appear that the only voice Paul heard for a few days was the insane voice of the slave-girl. And though she was shouting the truth, people would have lumped Paul and his team into the same loony-bin as their persistent follower.

 As one day followed another, Paul had ample time to discover that she was demon possessed and able to make a lot of money for her owners by fortune-telling. No doubt this information did not make his decision any easier. If he were to do something about the girl, he would stir up a hornet’s nest with her owners. Yet the poor girl was in bondage on many levels and hampering the Lord’s work. What to do?

In the final analysis, it was a particular form of God’s voice that helped Paul to make up his mind. The voice came in the form of a “troubled” emotion (v18). The Greek word translated “troubled” also means grieved, distressed or disturbed. It describes the emotion we feel when our deepest beliefs about right and wrong are offended. For example, Luke uses the same word to describe what the Sanhedrin felt when they heard that Peter and John were preaching about Jesus in the Temple (Acts 4:2). When this emotion is sanctified by feeling God’s heart for a particular situation, it can become a powerful guiding and motivating force.

For example, the Rev. James Ramsey was a ship's surgeon in the 16th century who became a clergyman and a medical supervisor of the plantations on the island of St Christopher in the Leeward Islands. Ramsey became so troubled by the plight of slaves that on his return to England, he spent three years writing a book which was highly critical of slavery in the West Indies. The book, published in 1784, contributed to the defeat of slavery by raising public awareness and interest.

Now, I bet most of you haven’t heard of Ramsey, but without his contribution and that of many others, Wilberforce would never have been credited with the abolition of slavery. Maybe the issue of abortion or rampant corruption or pornography or endemic marital break-down seem beyond your influence. That is simply not true. It only takes a spark to get a fire going or a few small candles to light up the dark.

Are you deeply troubled by anything at the moment? Is your distress going away? Are you experiencing the distress because you are feeling God’s heart for a particular issue or person or cause? Paul was deeply distressed by the girl’s condition. And neither the feeling nor the girl were going away, so Paul acted and embraced the consequences. Will you do the same?

Cheers for now - Ian