Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.

Acts 17:1-9

It is amazing how politics play into everything! When some get authority, it goes right to their head and they forget that they were put there by God. Of course, there is always the game of twisting of words and shifting of blame to make a person or a perspective look better or worse depending on the agenda. Of course, the liberal media has a hay day with this trying to make us believe that some of our leaders have single-handedly brought a deadly virus to our country.

After their lovely beating and jail time, Paul and Silas travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia to get to Thessalonica about 150 miles away from Philippi. They have a steady pattern now. They go to the local synagogue to preach Christ, and some believe, and some get jealous. Well, in Thessalonica, a huge number believed, especially the Greeks and also a number of high-ranking women.

The unbelieving Jews however decided to get some undesirables (possibly the local liberal media) to carry out their dirty work. They created a plan to start a riot, gather a crowd, and attack the house of a believer named Jason in an attempt to get Paul and Silas out to the street.

The undesirables were sorely disappointed to not get their hands on Paul and Silas, so they turned their rage to Jason and his household declaring political accusations against Caesar. The whole drama caused much anger and irritation with the authorities and after bail money was given, Jason and his household were let go.

God does not give us more than we can handle. Paul and Silas found themselves in eminent danger again. They just survived one beating and the Lord was gracious allowing them to escape this one. God was also gracious with Jason and his house by letting them get out on bail.

We might read this in horror, but this is not so uncommon in some countries. Some believers live in the reality that they could be thrown in prison for their faith. Believers in free religion countries are not used to this danger, but God is always gracious and good and knows what we can handle. When we get to heaven, most of us will be standing behind great unsung heroes of the Faith! What are you able to handle for the cause of Christ?

Written by Kaye Dee Richards. Kaye Dee lives with her husband Colin in Morrison, CO. They have 4 children, Joshua, Amelia, Victoria, and Julia.
To contact Kaye Dee, leave a comment, message us on Facebook or email comments@thebeautifulspirit.org.