Called A Liar

Called a Liar

Rhoda

Read: Acts 12:15

Eileen hung up the phone and rushed outside to look for her husband. They hadn’t expected Carl’s sisters until the next day; instead, they were already on the edge of town. Eileen found Carl in the garage covered with grease. “Very funny,” he laughed, “almost as good as the gag I pulled on you yesterday.” Eileen tried to convince Carl that it was true, but he just laughed again and took off on the mower.

The woman in today’s passage wasn’t believed when she shared her news, either. When Rhoda recognized Peter’s voice outside the door, she couldn’t wait to tell the wonderful news that he had been freed from prison. But the believers greeted her outburst with jeers, telling her that she must be out of her mind. Rhoda knew that she was only a servant girl and that it was her word against that of a large group of people, but she also knew whose voice she had heard. Rhoda didn’t let the others intimidate her. She stuck to her story. When she kept insisting that Peter had knocked on the door, the group decided that it must be an angel taking his form.

We never know how someone will respond when we talk about God, whether we’re sharing a verse or a principle from the Bible or our personal testimony of what God has done. Depending on the condition of his or her heart, a listener may react with interest, indifference, gratitude, hostility, or sarcasm. It’s hard to take a stand for our convictions when we don’t know how we’ll be treated. Although we are responsible for sharing God’s truth in a spirit of love, we’re not responsible for how people respond. We can’t afford to let fear of rejection silence us. If we do, we may miss the opportunity to share news that someone has been waiting to hear.

[Jesus said,] “Since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?”

John 8:46