Stirring the nest

Sometimes God allows the persecution in the form of shaking and upheaval of our status quo to come, to get us moving when we have become too comfortable and refuse to budge in any other way.

Even prophet Elijah experienced a moment when the constant supply of provision shrunk and dried up. It left him no other option but to rise and follow the route outlined by God. He was a prophet, and there was no rain other but at his command. But he also did not try to bring forth the rain just for it would have benefitted him personally. He moved in God's timing and spoke when God told him to speak, and stayed silent when God did not speak. And for a season there was God's provision for him at the brook. But then the natural circumstances prevailed, and the brook dried up.

1 Kings 17:1-7
English Standard Version (ESV)

Elijah Predicts a Drought
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

That meant that Elijah had no longer his status quo. It had lasted for a season, and now that season was over and he had to find his sustenance elsewhere. And like earlier, God spoke again and provided him a direction.

1 Kings 17
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Widow of Zarephath
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

Now Elijah was at crossroads. He could have refused to budge, looking at the previous mode of provision and tried to hang on to the status quo. Maybe the ravens would have still come. Bible does not tell us about them. It only states that the flowing supply of water was no more. So, it was more than enough to act as a motivating force to get Elijah on the move.

Evidently he had to experience a time of discomfort. There was no more water. And he might have had to travel without, suffering temporarily from the same effect, similar to the rest of the people living in the area which suffered from the consequences of a drought.

But unlike them, he had a sense of direction and he knew where he was going.


It is good not to set on a journey unless we pray about it and hear from God and get a sense of direction. Then we know what we are doing and we are not going haphazardly, in a random direction, trying to make it all happen on our own. Now, it is fine to pass our own decisions at a time of plenty, but we are talking here about entering a miracle zone, the supernatural. And, it would pay off to consult God and hear from Him before any major decision. It is a good practice to learn to include Him in our plans. And moreover, it is best to find out His mind and not just give Him a tiny nook in our plan, asking Him to bless whatever we set out to do on our own, but it is best to seek Him and His opinion and go with that, and make our plans around it.

Too many times we see how people set out on their own and end up in difficulties. Or they do not pay attention to God or include Him into any of their plans and get into difficulties. It is best to have Holy Spirit as our travel companion at our life journey.

In Acts 16 we see the ministry travels of Paul and Silas and how they tried this and that of no avail. Then God spoke and everything fell into place as they knew they were heading on with God, in a direction which He wanted for them. He needed them in Macedonia. And so they headed there.

Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Did it mean that Holy Spirit did not want them to preach the word in the province of Asia, or the people there were somehow unworthy or even worse, under judgment? Not at all. But God had a plan. There was something He wanted and needed to do in Macedonia, and He needed His ministers there. So He took initiative, and alerted them, and got their attention, and once they understood what God wanted them to do, they went and did it. He provided them the sense of direction in the form of a vision. As it was night, we can properly assume that it was a night vision, or a dream. Paul saw it in his dream, and understood that it was not just a random dream, but Holy Spirit talking to him, and giving him a sense of direction. So, he and Silas, they chose to follow it and go find out why God wanted them in Macedonia.

Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

We can see that God arranged for them a divine encounter. At first He led them to a place outside the city gate, at the riverside, where they expected to find a place of prayer. They found some women who had gathered there. And one of the women was Lydia, who was a dealer in purple cloth and a worshiper of God whose heart God opened. As a result she and all her household were baptised, and God provided Paul and Silas also a place for stay, as Lydia invited them to her home and persuaded them to come and stay with her.

Then some time passed, and they had a deliverance case.
Pay attention to the fact that the female slave lady who had a spirit by which she predicted the future, was following Paul and the rest of his company for many days.
Finally Paul was annoyed in his spirit and turned around and addressed the spirit, and cast it out, and the spirit left her at that very moment.

Now the spirit within urged the slave lady to tell the right message, as these men were the servants of the Most High God, and were telling the people the way to be saved.
But the right message does not always indicate the right spirit behind it. In her case it had to do with the spirit of divination.

The question arises, why didn't Paul cast out the spirit immediately.

Now, maybe, for the message was right, he did not understand it at first that it had to do with a wrong spirit behind it. It could have taken many days, for the operation of a gift of discerning the spirits was needed, and once Paul saw it, he acted on it. The lady was set free.


Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

And we can see how this all got them into trouble.
Was it a trouble because of a wrong reason? Why, no.
They had done nothing wrong. They ministered to the lady, and the lady was set free. But it meant also the loss of her former foretelling ability. And it took a while, but the owners of the slave lady understood that it must have been Paul who had done something to the lady to divest her of her former fortune telling capability. As a result their moneymaking business suffered and they took action and sued Paul.

Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.


Now how could Paul and Silas felt after having been accused for ministering to the slave lady and ending up in prison as a result while knowing all the time that they were in a perfect will of God? How would you feel if in their shoes? Surely it would feel a bit unjust.

So they were seized, and dragged before the authorities, stripped and beaten with rods, with the crowed joined in the attack against them. They were severely flogged and then thrown into prison - into the inner cell, with their feet put into stocks.

Now who would think that such might happen in the perfect will of God.

Some may say at the sight of such happenings that they must have missed God, or begged for it with their wrong and superfluous actions, for surely they must have made some mistake somewhere. But they didn't. It was the perfect will of God. And they had done nothing wrong. Only right.

Now, if you were in their stead, in their shoes, how would you feel after such experience? Would you still love God? Would you be willing to continue with ministry? Would you allow the dark and the gloom to overcome and cloud your mind and would you utter a confession that all is over. You came there at the leading of God. But hey, was it God at all? Would you give in to doubt? Would you feel down and depressed and weary and worried and bitter a bit?

We do not know how they felt really. But we know how they chose to act, irrespective of their potential thoughts and feelings.

They chose to trust God, and their spiritual sight and hearing. They knew they were in that situation with God and He had led them there, and they trusted their life was not over yet. God had more for them. God who delivered the slave lady, was able to deliver them.

They could have chosen to speak forth the words of worry and voiced their doubts and concerns, but they did not. Instead, they chose to praise God. And like in the battle with king Jehoshaphat when God granted him wisdom, they sung praise to God and overcame. It lifted their spirits to begin with. But it did more than that. It lifted them from natural into supernatural sphere and released the miracle they needed.

Sometimes God uses the natural, and then He does the supernatural. It was the time for the supernatural. The men were bound in the natural, and as unable to move forward as possible. They were chained to this place, and on top of that in the darkest coldest prison, being severely flogged and stripped naked. It was naturally the most impossible place to be at for any bright future perspective. So they did the only they could in the circumstances. They praised God, and that was enough. It was sufficient to release their miracle provision what they needed at the moment. And it did not bring release only to them, but to every other who witnessed the happenings as well.


Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”


It pays off to turn to God and seek Him when in impossible situations. We may think we need one thing in the natural for our solution. But God may give us instead of instant release supernatural wisdom, or a word of wisdom and if we act upon it, our supernatural release will come. It may come as a night vision which Paul saw for the sense of direction at first, or as a day vision, or as a thought or an idea emerging into our mind or in a form of a certain Scripture which includes a solution for our present problem. But in any way, once we act upon it, no matter how foolish it may seem to the natural mind, supernatural and a miracle will be released.

God released a supernatural violent earthquake which shook the very foundations of their prison and opened instantly all doors, and loosened all chains. Everyone was free in the natural now. And they could have fled, but they stayed there, as God had a plan for the jailer and his household too.

And the jailer who woke and saw what had happened wanted to kill himself first, but when he understood that all prisoners were free, but had stayed in prison nevertheless, asked instead how could he become saved.

Acts 16
New International Version (NIV)

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

And when they had ministered to the jailer and his whole household, their natural release followed.


35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

Paul and Silas left prison lawfully and being acquitted, and went back to Lydia's house. They met their brothers and sisters of faith in there and ministered encouragement to them and left.

That was their experience of ministry in the perfect will of God.

Now was the Macedonian man whom Paul saw previously in his dream the jailer maybe? We do not know. But sometimes we can see the actual face of a person when God tells and directs us in ministry, or in our personal walk specifically....the way He told about a specific widow woman to prophet Elijah, for his next destination. And sometimes the "Macedonian man" or the image of a person can play a symbolic role in the bigger plan as Paul and Silas ministered besides the jailer and his household also to Lydia and her household where they also stayed during their "Macedonian ministry visit", besides prison.

In any way, we started with the theme of persecution in the sense of stirring the nest and shaking and upheaval. Now the whole prison experienced shaking, and all the prisoners could begin their new journey with Christ. They could have remained incarcerated, as they must have been evidently guilty. But they could start moving in their inside.

The apostles were told to go into all the world. But they stayed at their known territory. Finally, it was namely the persecution which scattered them all over and they went into all the world as a result of that, rather involuntarily and via a far less convenient method like the whale ride of prophet Jonah. But they made it there, and brought the gospel to us - you and me.