In Someone Else’s Hands

IN SOMEONE ELSE’S HANDS

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

At that point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then I will decide the case.” He ordered an officer to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.

A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him quite often and talked with him.

After two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.

Governor Antonius Felix was in a tough spot. If he convicted Paul on the paltry charges presented by the Jewish high priest, he could get in trouble with the Roman higher-ups for treating a Roman citizen unjustly. But setting Paul free certainly would have resulted in a riot and Paul’s death. Felix’s answer? Stall. He adjourned the proceedings, extended Paul some freedom and the ability to see his friends, tried to get Paul to bribe him so he’d be off the hook, and then did nothing at all for two years. After that, Paul became the next governor’s problem. Paul sat in the Caesarean prison for two years with no idea when or whether he would be freed. What must he have thought, felt, and done in those years? Did his faith falter?

• 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 a time in which your life or some part of it was in someone else’s hands. What did that feel like? What frustrated you or angered you about that? How did you experience God during that time?
• Are you in any way holding someone else’s life or freedom in your hands? (Perhaps you are holding a grudge, are withholding love or forgiveness, or have some positional or personal leverage over another person.) What’s motivating you? What do you sense God inviting you to do in that situation?

Father, thank you for freedom in Christ and that your promises are true even when I don’t see how they could be under the circumstances. I pray for greater freedom in my heart and mind. I pray that whatever my circumstances, I remain faith filled and hopeful. Show me if I am negatively affecting the freedom of someone else by my words or actions. Help me release that person, and forgive me for inhibiting or controlling them. May your peace cover me, and may I walk in love and trust. Amen.