But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive.   Genesis 50:20

I love it!!  We plat, connive and purpose to do our will, many times for evil or for selfish purposes.  Yet God has already planned, purposed, and worked even through our plats to do good!  To save!  To rescue! To redeem others!!

In Acts chapter 7, we read the story of Stephen's address to the Sanhedrin.  The Jewish authorities were so set on putting an end to this belief in Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the Messiah, and they were looking for every opportunity to stop those who were teaching and speaking about Him in Jerusalem.  A group called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which Stephen spoke, so they induced me to lie as to what he had said and stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes to bring him before the council.

After addressing them with an overview of God's great call and work in the history of the nation from it's founding fathers through history.  And continuing on to describe their rebellion and failures, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him.  So angry, so unwilling to repent and to see the truth.

At that point, Stephen, full of Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  He said "Look!  I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"  And for them, that was exactly what they needed.  They ran at him with one accord and cast him out of the city where they stoned him in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.

This began the great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.  The church was founded in Jerusalem and remained gathered there, teaching, healing, ministering to one another and to the lost.  However, with the beginning of this persecution, in which Saul figured so prominently, the believers were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT the APOSTLES.  

I love this for two reasons.  I see in this situation the plotting of the Jews to silence and destroy this teaching, this growing (over 5,000 by this point) 'assembly,' the church, which was actually God's plan and purpose to move the believers out of Jerusalem, to spread the Gospel outward.  Just as in the plotting to arrest and put Jesus of Nazareth to death to put an end to His work, they accomplished the very plan and purpose prophesied by God throughout the Old Testament.  Here their plotting and conniving fulfilled God's purpose of moving the believers out of Jerusalem and spreading the Gospel outward.

The second reason I love this is because the believers whom God sent out into Judea and Samaria were NOT the apostles.  For me that says that God doesn't use only those in leadership, those recognized as preachers and teachers, He uses those unnamed and unrenowned believers in their unique personalities, giftings and perspectives to reach the world.  God isn't about choosing the great and the talented and the confident, He chooses the weak, the ordinary, the everyman, and then He equips them as He sees fit to reach the world!!!

As I was thinking about this and what we are seeing in our world right now, I began to think about it in the light of these passages of Scripture.  What is being done as part of plans and purposes of evil, God is already at work using these plots to accomplish His purposes!  Keep watching!  As the world and the wicked one rejoice in their works and their successes, I believe God will actually do some amazing things through all of this.  And I believe it may not be done by those we sit back and look to for leadership and guidance and teaching, but rather that God will work through the unknown, the unnamed, the unrecognized believers who respond to all that is going on by stepping out in love and faith and grace to reveal the glory and wonder of our God.  This is not a prophecy, this is just my hope based upon God's goodness and His mercy.

God bless!!!