Painful Partings And Struggling Saints

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.
Acts 15:39

Contrary to what you may have thought, missionaries are not “super Christians.”

Like the rest of us humans, missionaries have been known to quarrel, get tired, experience heartbreak and even make mistakes.

As you will learn from the confrontation between Paul and Barnabas, even the most gifted and dedicated of fellow workers can disagree. What they need at such times is not criticism and condemnation, but rather churches who care, friends who pray and individuals who are quick to forgive.

Martin Luther explores the lesson to be learned from the painful separation of Paul and Barnabas.

WALK WITH MARTIN LUTHER
“Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much.

“Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.

“Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.

“No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
“God is not human, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).

Fix your gaze upon him, and regardless of who stumbles and falls around you, you can be certain: He stands eternally!