Scattered

Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Acts 8:1-8 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

The first Christians must have been terrified. Their friend Stephen has just been killed for speaking about Jesus. And the little church in Jerusalem is smashed apart as families grab what they can and run. Luke tells us in today’s reading that “they were all scattered”.

But that isn’t the end of the story. Remember back in Acts 1? The risen Jesus said to His follow that they would be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Now, in Acts 8, that promise is lived out. The scattering that looks like defeat becomes the way God moves the story forwards.

One member of the early church, Philip, ends up in Samaria. That is supposed to shock us: Samaritans were the sort of people that good Jews kept at arm’s length. Yet here we see the Gospel crossing a boundary as it is proclaimed to people who, in the eyes of many, should not be included.

Philip speaks about Christ. God heals the sick. Those tormented are set free. And Luke sums it up like this: “There was much joy in that city.” What began as persecution in Jerusalem becomes joy in Samaria. What starts as chaos becomes a key turning point in the book of Acts: as the Jewish, Jerusalem-based, community of Jesus starts to become a multiethnic and international movement.

I imagine that many of us know what it is to feel “scattered”. A broken relationship. A move you didn’t choose, a job lost. Perhaps this Lent you feel far from where you once were, unsure what God is doing.

Acts 8 reminds us: God has not lost control. Maybe the place where you did not plan to be, is the very place where God wants to use you. The people you now sit next to at work, in the café, on the bus, may be the people to whom God wants you to bring his joy.

This Lent you might like to ask: where have I been scattered? Who is in front of me now? And how might I live in a way that points to Jesus, and brings joy?

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, when I feel scattered or pushed to the edge, open my eyes to see where you are at work, and use me to carry your good news across the boundaries in front of me.