10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
Two years of continuous ministry for Paul! He had relative peace as he carried out this time of ministry. The Lord had spared his life so that His Word would be spread to so many. Not everyone responded to the Word, but many heard the Truth about Jesus and the Love of God. You see, persecution or lack of it does not mean God is blessing or not blessing. People accepting or not accepting the message is not a sign you are necessarily out of God’s will. Outward circumstances do not determine God’s will. Only in eternity will the truth be known. We cannot look at the outward and expect to see the unseen eternal working of God. Since we “see” the outward we can sometimes think it is more “real” than the unseen eternal. But only the eternal will last. Remember, everything we see had a starting point and will have an ending point. There is a new heaven and earth coming. This universe will be redone is some way that we can’t understand. We do know that all sin and its consequences will be eliminated. And when I look around at the world as it stands today, I see lots of sin and its consequences. I see it in the face of every person I meet. I see it in our world as I see the ravages of selfishness and greed. So don’t allow yourself to be swayed by outward circumstances. If Paul had allowed them to determine his life, he probably would have left shortly after arriving in this place. His recent history said he would have only a short time before he was persecuted. He might have thought that he should leave town before the persecution starts, just to be safe. He could have missed out on God’s blessing if he had placed too much confidence in his circumstances. We walk by faith, not by sight.
The Arnold Journey 