Acts 7:54–8:3

Be still: Dear Lord, thank you for your desire to meet with me wherever I am, whatever my circumstances. Please bless this time spent reading Scripture and teach me how to apply it to my life. Amen.

Read: Acts 7:54–8:3

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.’ (v55)

Encounter: This is a difficult moment in Acts: after all the growth and joy of the Church's beginning, God’s people are met with the same reception that Jesus ultimately did: rage, violence and death. 

The contrast between Stephen, ‘full of the Holy Spirit,’ and those condemning him, is stark. As they prepare to kill him, Stephen sees ‘the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.’ 

It may be impossible to know what our beliefs truly are until they’re tested. What would I do in Stephen’s position: would I be brave? Would I think of others or myself? 

Stephen shows us the miracle of the Holy Spirit— as he is murdered by those who falsely claimed righteousness, he became Christ-like. Like Jesus on the cross, he asked for mercy for his killers. 

With hindsight, there is a clue here of what mercy can do. A young man named Saul is mentioned, looking after the murderers' coats. Saul was one of the chief enemies of Christians, searching them out and hauling them off to prison and probable death. 

But God, in his mercy, had other plans for Saul, remaking him as one of the greatest evangelists of all time. Such is the miraculous mercy of Christ! Forgiving people even while they kill you, or choosing your greatest enemy for leadership, makes little sense in human logic. But thankfully for us, God’s ways are above ours: he takes our worst acts, our cruellest instincts, and transforms them for his glory and our eternal blessing. 

Apply: Take this moment to search your heart for anywhere you're finding forgiveness hard. Write it down. Present it to God. What does he say? 

Devote: Lord Jesus, in your moment of greatest pain, you asked God to forgive those who abandoned and killed you. Forgive me when I struggle to extend your redemption to those around me. Thank you for your mercy and justice, and that I can entrust every area of pain or grief in my life to you.