Courage in the Face of Storms

There is a simple prayer uttered by the early disciples of Christ in Acts chapter 4.  In the face of threats from the religious bureaucracy of the day they prayed to the Lord for courage. In their words, “grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). Remarkably, in spite of the persecution that ensued, God honored that request.  What you discover is a group of men who preached the gospel about Jesus Christ in spite of the outcome.

While at the temple they were found to be preaching the message of salvation through Jesus and they were thrown in prison (Acts 5:17).

 Unbeknownst to the jealous religious leaders, and the jail-keepers that night an angel let them out of prison. The next morning when the leaders went to the prison to bring them to trial, they opened the door and found they weren’t there! But these prisoners didn’t simply evaporate. While the high priest wandered how he could find them, a messenger brought him word that they were back telling the truth about Jesus in the temple (Acts 5:25) – the very place where they had been arrested the first time. When confronted and asked to stop preaching the message about Jesus, Peter responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

 This time before their release they were beaten (Acts 5:40). That would seem to be a fairly effective deterrent for most of us. If when we proclaimed a message we were beaten for it, we might have a tendency to speak with greater political correctness the next time around. However, this group had a different perspective. Know where they went upon their release? Right back to the temple, and there they “didn’t cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). What a great example these disciples provide us with.  The Gospel of Jesus was something worth being courageous about.