11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.
Paul has preached so long and so late that a young man in his audience fell from the third floor window. Sometimes we don’t take hints. God restored the young man and Paul returned to talking. I can imagine the adrenaline rush kept the group going. They took time to eat another meal together. And they continued to talk. I can bet the conversation shifted in focus following the fall. I bet there were many voices of praise to God following the boy’s restoration. The parents who were horrified, were now so thankful. It is amazing how fast things can turn around when God gets involved. And yet we often are so hesitant to get God involved. We think that we should try to resolve things ourselves, and then when all our efforts fail, then we should get God involved. That is one of the lessons here in this passage. Paul rushes down and gets God involved right away. He doesn’t try to solve it himself, he simply trusts the Lord. Our first action needs to be to get God involved. We need to get in the habit of praying first, then stepping out in faith. Pray first, pray during, and pray after. Our lives are to be lives of fellowship with God and with each other. Paul leaves in the morning on his journey. I am sure he was exhausted, but he knew it was time to move on to the next place. We need to know when it is time to move on, not because we are uncomfortable, but because we know it is God’s time to move. Paul had completed what God had called him to accomplish and he moved on. Do you know when it is time to move on? So often we move on not because God is telling us to do so, but because we have some personality or leadership conflict. Instead of staying and working to resolve the issue, we move and miss out on the great work God wants to do in us.
The Arnold Journey 