and disagreeing among themselves, they departed after paul had made one statement: “the Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through isaiah the prophet:
“‘go to this people, and say,
“you will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
for this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and i would heal them.’
[acts 28:25-27]
God sends—to those who will believe and to those who will not
have you ever considered how crazy it is that God sends people to preach the gospel to people he knows for a fact will not believe or repent? in this, we see God’s relentless pursuit. he pursues us to the ends of the earth, not despising the cross to make a way for us to be with him…and he even sends people to offer salvation to those of us he knows will never believe.
if God sends us out to those he knows will never believe, what does that tell us about how we are called to go out? we may never know who will believe and who will not, but even if we knew they would not, we would still go. it takes a little courage to share the truth with someone we think might be ready to receive it, but it takes a lot of courage to share the truth with someone we think we’re certain won’t receive it. but that’s exactly what Jesus did, and the Holy Spirit within us can give us that courage!
Lord, give us courage to share the gospel and the truth with those we think are ready to hear it and with those we think we know aren’t. Help us to find strength in you to step into failure and loss, counting the cost and deciding you’re worth it. may our beholding of your majesty and beauty come to control all that we do! we’re yours; send us, mold us, and command us as you will!
~ stephen hall