Acts 14

 

How to choose one?

"Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust" (verse 14). Paul and Barabas felt it was important to have leaders in each church. There are disagreements over how this might have been carried out but the one thing I want to notice is that it wasn't done without much prayer and fasting. These elders may have been chosen by the apostles or voted on but whichever way it was done it was done while consulting God and asking his direction. At the end of the day, it ultimately doesn't matter how they were appointed but that God did the choosing. 

Also in this chapter Paul and Barabas confess that persecution and suffering are part of the Christian life. We might wish otherwise and some of us were taught otherwise, but that isn't what Jesus or the Apostles taught or lived. I will admit I don't want persecution and I don't like suffering, but if that is what I must face I ask God to give me the strength. I want to choose God no matter what.  

Photo by Jari Hytönen on Unsplash