The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.” Acts 25:23-27

Here was Paul, in prison, but trying to use this negative situation for good. He knew he had a captive audience, military officers and prominent leaders met in the palace with Agrippa to hear this case. Paul saw this opportunity as another way to share the gospel. The Lord truly blessed Paul with a great amount of wisdom because he always turned a negative situation into good. Isn’t that what the Lord does for us quite often? Something we thought was horrible and awful, He turns for His good.

It’s hard though when you’re going through the difficult situation to see the good or even a ray of light. But sometimes if we just wait, trust, and hope – we can see Him shining through. Thank you Jesus for that! I have thought a lot about Paul lately, he went through some very trying times, but he never let them get the best of him. Once again, I pray we can have faith like Paul to rejoice in the sunny days and to hang on during those dark and dreary days as well. Amen!

Prayer

Father God we pray that we can have faith like Paul when it comes to the storms of life. Help us to look to You for that ray of hope when the days seem so dark. Help us to trust that You will see us through and that what we think is a really bad situation, You can turn to good. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.