Day 289: Acts 26:24–32

“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian so easily?” (vv. 27–28).

My advice to anyone who is investigating the matter of Christ’s existence would probably be these two suggestions:

1. Open your heart to the possibility of Christ’s authenticity by coming to church and getting to know Christian people.

2. Ask Christ if He’s real, then be honest and open enough to watch for Him to reveal Himself.

Good investigators ask certain questions: who? what? where? when? how? The context of Acts 26 shows what we may know: who is in control and even what He’s doing and where He’s leading—but we’ll rarely guess when and how! Let’s take the Jewish leaders and Paul as an example of our inability to know these things.

1. Neither Paul nor the Jewish leaders understood when. Paul didn’t know when God would fulfill His promise. Paul knew who had called him and what Christ had called him to do. He even knew where: God was going to send him to Rome. But Paul might never have guessed he would still be sitting in jail two years after the promise. That’s why he probably asked God many times—When? Time means so much to you and me. When God sheds light on ministries He wants us to fulfill or promises He plans to keep, we usually assume He means right now! A study of the Jewish patriarchs, however, proves that years may separate God’s promise and its fulfillment. Not one minute is wasted, but God rarely seems to fulfill His revealed plan when we expect.

Likewise, the Jews didn’t know when God would fulfill His promise. They believed God would send the Messiah. That was the answer to who. They also knew what He would come to do: bring salvation. They were certain where: Israel, then to all parts of the world. But they didn’t understand when. They were still looking for a Messiah, even though He had already come. Sometimes we can keep asking when God is going to do something He’s already done!

2. Neither Paul nor the Jewish leaders understood how. God had assured Paul He was sending him to Rome, but Paul would never have guessed how. In Acts 25:25 Festus announced, “When he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him” (hcsb). Actually it was God who had decided to send Paul to Rome, but He was about to use Festus as the vehicle. Paul may have wondered over and over how he would ever get to Rome while under arrest. He probably asked his associates many times to pray for his release so he could fulfill his calling in Rome. I wonder if Paul ever imagined his arrest would be the tool God would use to give him an all-expenses paid trip to his destination.

I recently heard a famous actor share his testimony before a secular audience. He said when he was a boy, God revealed to him that he would reach out to thousands and thousands of people. All his life he had waited for God to call him to preach. God never did. Instead the young man developed into an Academy Award–winning actor. He was thankful for his opportunities to act, but he could not understand what had happened to his calling. The evening he was honored, he said he realized God had fulfilled His promise. The young boy never would have guessed how God would do what He said.

God is the Deliverer, but we never know how He might deliver us. We see that God always fulfills His promises, just not always the way we imagine.

If Paul was occasionally shocked by how God fulfilled His promises, he was not the only one. God had assured the Jews He would send the Messiah, but they never would have guessed how. They were expecting great pomp to accompany their king’s arrival. They were not expecting someone who looked so ordinary, so common. They unfortunately wanted a prestigious king more than a servant Savior.

Praise God, He gives us what we need, not what we want. If Christ had come to immediately wear His crown, we would be hopelessly lost. A crown of thorns and a splintered cross had to precede a crown of jewels and a hallowed throne. If they hadn’t, Christ would still have a throne but no earthly subjects to approach it.

God calls us to be good investigators. We don’t have to be at a loss on how to investigate such matters. When we don’t know what, when, where, or how, we can trust in who. We won’t always find our answers, but we can always find our God when we seek Him with all our hearts. And He will love and comfort us until all other answers come.