Acts 20:7-16

    And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. And there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." And when he had gone back up, and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

 

    But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for thus he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. And sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus in order that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

 

Paul intended his ministry to be an encouragement to his hearers. You would think this would be difficult or impossible after a tragic death like the one Eutychus came to. It would have been easy for the people to blame Paul and grumble against him for how long he kept speaking. But Paul served the Lord of life, and our Lord made Paul able to announce not only the good news of future eternal life, but also the good news that Eutychus was alive again that very night. Paul kept talking until daybreak, no one else fell out of a window, and he left. The people went back to their homes, both having a living Eutychus to tease about falling asleep while Paul spoke and a living hope to encourage them.

 

While Paul went to Assos by land, his companions traveled by boat to pick him up. It almost seems as though Paul is trying to avoid people – something that is not characteristic of his ministry – because they skip over Ephesus in their hurry to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost. We’ll see soon that Paul could not entirely bypass these people he loved. But this passage also shows that there are sometimes other events and goals that are important. When these goals come up, we are not to love people any less, but we may have to spend less time with some of them in order to achieve our goals. We are limited people, and even as we seek to obey our God by loving Him and the people He puts in our lives, we find that we can not do all things perfectly. We simply do not have the strength, time, or resources to do all the good that we think could be or ought to be done. Only our God and Savior is unlimited, and in such situations we must remember to entrust people and desires and unfulfilled tasks and unmet needs into the hands of our Father. We do this not to shirk our responsibilities, but as a reflection of the truth that only God is perfectly able to meet all needs and care for all people. We can trust Him, and His faithfulness in all things frees us to obey Him in the limited things we can do – without fear or guilt.

 

Father, may I plunge into the work You give me with a glad and joyful heart. May I rejoice that You are faithful to care for people and do work that I am unable to do. Even more so, may I rejoice that You are faithfully working even in the midst of the people I spend time with and the tasks I work on. If You were not providing for all things, even the things I feel like I am providing for, they would not be done sufficiently well. They would fall apart. But You are faithful, and You are providing day in and day out for people to know You, for work to be done, for goals to be achieved, for needs to be met. All things are in Your hands, and I can look forward to my work. I can work hard even as I realize that my work accomplishes nothing on its own. Your work and Your provision and Your encouragement and hope are what matter. Thank You for working so thoroughly that I can rejoice in my limited, measly, daily work. Give me and all Your children joy today as we seek to love and obey You.