The Hand of the Lord

Dear Pastor, Preacher, or Bible Teacher –

It’s been a long time since I’ve sent one of these emails to you all – I apologize for the long delay and hope once again to get in the rhythm of sending you a note of encouragement every second week.

I do hope your weekend of serving God, His people, and a needy world went well. Whether it did or not, here’s an encouraging word from Acts 11:

And the hand of the Lord was with them,
and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:21)

In the ancient world, many people considered Syrian Antioch to be the third greatest city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria. Antioch was known for its business and commerce, for its sophistication and culture, but also for its immorality.

In such a challenging place, God was doing something amazing in the church at Antioch. Luke summarized it in Acts 11:21.

Simply said, the hand of the Lord was with them. Because God was with them, their ministry was blessed and multiplied, and the result was that a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

A ministry can’t turn people to the Lord unless the hand of the Lord is with them.

You can turn people to a personality without the hand of the Lord.
You can turn people to a social club without the hand of the Lord.
You can turn people to a church or an institution without the hand of the Lord.
But you can’t turn people to Jesus without the hand of the Lord.

Let’s pray that God’s hand is mightily upon all we do for Him!

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