The Great Scattering of the Church

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Acts 8:1-4

Steps: 11, 12

After the death of Stephen the church was persecuted by the Jewish leadership and God used this to scatter His church all of over the local area and started the dispersion of the recovery message throughout Asia and then throughout the world. But the one who initiated the persecution was the Rabbi Saul. He was under conviction regarding the death of Stephen and he could not shake the message that God had placed on his heart. How he dealt with conviction on his heart was to persecute people who had the same belief system as Stephen. Acts 26:9-11. Yet God used this man to accomplish the spreading of the message to all the world.

Prayer for Today: God help us not to wrongly judge people who cause us to re-think our position. Help us to recognize Your hand in the activities of people who we do not agree with when You are using them to get us to look, think, and act differently than what we have done before. Help us to cooperate with You in any way that would be helpful to us and to others. Thank You for Your mysterious ways.