No Problem: God Has Spoken (Acts 25-26)

Paul reminds me of Mother Teresa! In April 1942, when she was 36 years old, "God tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a picture for what her life would look like from that point forward. She was to serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, she was to live among the people she would be serving, she was to eat what they ate, dress as they dressed, and do so quietly for the rest of the days of her life." -Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels (pg. 256)

In the same way, I think God tapped Paul on his shoulder and gave him the picture of what he would do in the jail, so that instead of being free, Paul decided to appeal to Caesar. King Agrippa was puzzled when he said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." I believe that God placed Paul in this position to be able to speak into King Agrippa's live, causing him to ask Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" After he heard Paul's testimony, he might think that Paul was crazy and knew that he could have been freed. I don't know what kind of effects Paul had on King Agrippa, but we all know that he was talking about Paul! After King Agrippa heard Paul, he said, "this man could have been set free [but he had chosen not to]!"

After Mother Teresa received a clear picture from God, she appealed to her boss to send her out to Calcutta, to let her go. She was a teacher at that time. For four months, she kept appealing to Father Van Exem and won. But she faced other obstacle: the archbishop said no. But she wrote letters to him like the persistent widow until he finally let her go! She could have stayed at her teaching job, but she appealed and got herself into poverty like how Paul got himself into an extended time in prison!

Would the assignment be difficult?
No problem: God had spoken.
Would it require her to be uprooted from the other sisters and from her friends?
No problem: God had spoken.
Would it involve her working the rest of her life with diseased and broken people in one of the poorest places on the planet?
No problem: "God has spoken," she said, "and I will refuse him nothing." Mother Teresa said yes, and she intended to fulfill her fully yielded commitment to God without delay. (pg. 260, Hybels)

I love how Paul and Mother Teresa kept sharing their vision with the others! They never gave up, or even avoided those tough calling: to go into the prison and to go into the poverty! There they boldly shared their testimonies!