Acts 18

The Acts 18 passage reminded me of the location from my Journeys of Paul tour that stood out for me the most - the Bema (judgment seat) in Corinth, which was likely the example in Paul's mind as he wrote about the Judgment Seat of Christ in his letter to the Corinthians. 

Here was where Paul was dragged before the proconsul Gallio by his Jewish opposition.  But, God intervened, and Gallio ruled in Paul's favor, without him having to even defend himself (Acts 18:12-16). 

In other areas, God was clearly at work throughout the passage as well:

• God provided support to Paul through Priscilla and Aquila who become his life-long friends, and through Silas and Timothy and the financial support they brought from Macedonia
• Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household became believers in the Lord; and based on 1 Corinth 1:1, so did Sosthenes, the next synagogue leader
• God encouraged Paul through a vision
• God used Priscilla and Aquila to disciple Apollos and explain "to him the way of God more adequately", and who in turn, helped other believers.   Apollos was the one mentioned several times in the later letter to the Corinthians, notably in 1 Corinth 3:6  "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow."

Also, in this passage, we catch a glimpse of a side of Paul that we don't often see.   Based on what God said in the vision, Paul was apparently afraid; and he had good reason to be, based on his past experiences with opposition and attacks in many of the other cities so far.  Even in 1 Corinthians 2:3, Paul said "I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling." And that may be why God chose to encourage him through the vision, bring Priscilla and Aquila in his life to provide a support system, etc.   Another likely indication that Paul was going through a difficult time in Corinth; was that at the end, he completed his vow, probably one of consecration and gratitude to God.

Paul then concludes his Second Missionary Journey and spends some time in Antioch, before starting again on his Third Missionary Journey.

I was discussing with a friend on how we are able to persist despite opposition and times when we are so weary that we want to give up,  and just as we see from Paul's example, when we are sure that we are fulfilling God's calling and that we are doing what He wants us to do, that gives us the persistence and motivation to keep doing it.