The next day Paul and Barnabas left for Derbe. They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra. (Acts 14:20-21)
The apostle Paul and his companion Barnabas were sent by God to Lystra to preach the good news of the Gospel. While there, they healed a man who had been crippled from birth. The crowds believed “the gods” had come down from heaven in the likeness of Paul and Barnabas, calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes. Paul and Barnabas were aghast at this and quickly corrected their misunderstanding. But while they were there, some of the Jews arrived from Antioch and stirred up the crowds to stone Paul; they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. He was not! We read that “When the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city” (Acts 14:8-20).
The next day, Paul and Barnabas left for Derbe to preach and teach. Then something very strange happened: They went back to Lystra. Why? Because God had called them back to learn the lessons of Lystra. I want to share two of those lessons that God ordained for Paul and Barnabas to learn.
Lesson #1 — Learn from every defeat
We don’t often learn much when the sky is blue, the clouds are fleecy, and the sun is brightly shining. More often than not, God’s deep teachings are only absorbed on the other side of a devastating defeat. So we must seek to find the lesson in every defeat, letting the pain shape and mold us into the person God is calling us to be.
Lesson #2 — Return to some defeats
There are times when God calls us to return to a defeat because He intends to turn that defeat into a divine victory. This is not an easy thing for the natural man to do. When we are defeated, we would rather learn the lesson and get on with life. But sometimes God has determined to take us above and beyond a lesson and turn defeat into a divine victory. That is what God did for Paul and Barnabas, but they needed to be thinking supernaturally rather than naturally.
Think back to the last time God determined that you needed to return to some particular defeat, rather than simply learn from it: A heated argument with a loved one . . . a broken relationship that needs to be made whole . . . a stronghold that has a stranglehold on you. God has ordained that the lesson alone will not lift you high enough; rather, you must return to rise above the defeat in order to receive the victory.
Return with a humble heart. Return with a contrite character. Return, despite the threat of a “second stoning,” knowing that God is with you every step of the way, just like He was with Paul and Barnabas.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 