Unconventional Wisdom

SLIDE 7

Damascus: When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (Acts 9:23-25)

Leaving Damascus, he returns home to Jerusalem where he proceeds to tell them that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jerusalem: And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus (his childhood home) (Acts 9:29-30).

SLIDE 8

Iconium (South Central Turkey):

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country (Acts 14:5-6)

Point being that Paul is not one to put the Lord to a foolish test. He’s no dummy. He doesn’t unnecessarily place himself in harm’s way. Yet, here he knows the fate that awaits him and he walks forward into it. So, what’s different?

How do you discern when you should follow God when it’s contrary to human wisdom and counsel? I don’t have all the answers for you but there are at least 4 insights we can glean from what Paul went through.

For starters,

SLIDE 9

1-God sometimes calls us to do things that seem illogical

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8 NIV)

Sounds somewhat like Frodo Baggins. There’s a scene in LOR in which they’ve come to the conclusion that the ring must be destroyed in the fires of a horrendous place of evil called Mordor. Frodo says, “I will take the ring, although I do not know the way.”

Imagine what it must’ve been like for Abraham to just pack up and move. Imagine trying to explain this to your spouse. Abraham, and Sarah for that matter, followed God’s instructions even when it didn’t make any sense to him. In the Bible, we can find plenty of examples of God asking people to do far-fetched things:

-Noah. He told Noah to build an ark. This would be the modern-day equivalent of you and I building a spaceship…out in our backyard. What will the neighbors think? Imagine going into the local Ace Hardware store and the cashier asks you what your project is and you tell them that you’re building a spaceship.

-Joshua. His first true test of leadership in the Promised Land was to seize Jericho. This was a fortified city with an outer wall 13ft in height and an inner wall that was 28ft. So, what’s the game plan? How do we take this city? Battering rams? Catapults? Chuck Norris? What’s the plan? God told Joshua to march around Jericho seven times and to then blow trumpets. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

We also have several examples of God directing us to do the illogical in Acts.

-Philip, who was having a great ministry in Samaria, was instructed by an angel to go and share the gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch who was travelling from Jerusalem back home. No other details were provided to him. This would be like God asking us to take a side road off the 87 and to go up to a limo and share the gospel with the person in the back seat.