All That God Has Done

ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.

Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. And they stayed there with the believers for a long time.

In this passage, we see Paul and Barnabas return to the church in Antioch after checking in on the new disciples in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (where they fled or had been chased away), providing encouragement and setting up a leadership structure for the new churches. Upon returning to Antioch, they focused not on their hardships but on all that God had done through them and on the doors he had opened for the Gentiles. This reporting back and reflection on God’s work emboldened the church and reminded them of his presence, power, and faithfulness.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• Reflect on your past week. Where was God’s presence, power, or faithfulness evident? Where did the Holy Spirit guide you, open a door, provide comfort, or convict your heart of wrongdoing? How could you build this kind of reflecting into your daily routine?
• Reflect on a time someone shared something God had done in his or her life that emboldened your faith or encouraged you in some way. How could you build this practice of hearing how God is at work in a friend or family member into your weekly or monthly routine?

Father, thank you for your presence, power, and faithfulness in my life and in the world. I want to notice more and reflect more on all the ways you work in my moments, days, weeks, and months. Help me develop the discipline of reflecting on a regular basis and reporting to others all that you do so I can be encouraged and be an encouragement. May I have eyes to see evidence of your goodness and grace each day. Amen.