So after Paul and Barnabas tell about how the Holy Spirit had filled the lives of many “uncircumcised” Gentiles and James quoted scripture saying that God had planned all along for salvation to come to the gentiles, they agreed that circumcision would not have to be a requirement for becoming a Christian.
A letter is written with a few less stressful requirements and Paul and Barnabas along with Silas and Judas are selected to share this letter with the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
There seems to be a lot of good things happening. Silas and Judas are encouraging and strengthening the believers and after a time them are sent back it would seem to Jerusalem, but Paul and Barnabas remain.
We don’t know for sure how long but it seems like Paul is begin tasked with going on another missionary journey. Barnabas wants to take John Mark (his nephew) with them, but because he had left them the last time, Paul didn’t think he was mature enough to go with him.
John Mark will later go on to write the gospel of Mark, so I image that for whatever reason he left them on the first trip, he will mature and become a very important part of us knowing about Jesus, even today.
Well, a disagreement erupts between the two friends and they end up going separate ways. (Later we will discover that Paul is once again relying on Mark for help. So the rift between them would appear to have been reconciled.)
What would seem like a terrible thing and a win for satan, actually turns into something that God can use. Because they are now separated the work that they were doing can be compounded and they can go to twice as many places and they are at the same time bringing along another generation of missionaries.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating that we have fights in the church so that we can better discern God’s leading or that we can multiply the work being done. What I am saying is that God can take what is wrong or bad and make something good come out of it. If you find yourself in a situation that seems like it is going from bad to worse, take a moment (maybe a lot of moments) to pray about how God can use this situation to further His cause, to help everyone grow, and to bring glory to God.
Peace and joy!
Pastor Kathy