Acts 11:11-18 (NIV)

¹¹ “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹² The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴ He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized withwater, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Reflection

In the passage before these verses, Peter received a vision of a sheet that came down from heaven.  On it was all kinds of animals.  A voice spoke out to Peter and told him to kill and eat the animals.  But Peter refused because these animals were considered “unclean” according to the Jewish customs and laws.  The voice spoke again and declared, “what God has made clean, do not call common.”  This happened two more times and finally, the sheet went back up to heaven.  Immediately after the vision ended, the three Gentile men came to see Peter.

As Peter recounted the events that occurred immediately after the vision, he acknowledged that he could have stood in God’s way to bring Jesus to the Gentiles.  Realizing that the same Spirit whom he received was the same Spirit who would come upon the Gentiles, Peter put aside all of his hesitations and followed the Spirit’s leading.  Had Peter refused to go with the three men, Peter’s traditions could have stood in the way of the Gentiles receiving the gospel.  But praise God that Peter listened to God’s voice and obeyed without hesitation.

Response

Regardless of our response, it is certain that God’s plans will be accomplished.  They will get accomplished whether we stand in the way or not.  But how great it is when we obey and do not stand in God’s way!  Because God loves us, we can listen to the Spirit and minister as He leads us.  Let’s pray and ask God to remove our preferences, likes or dislikes, so that we would not stand in His ways.  Let’s pray for the unbelievers we know asking the Spirit fo God to minister to them. Let’s open our ears to and ask God to help us hear how He wants us to follow the Spirit and minister to them.