On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:1 (NIV)

This year marks a couple of anniversaries for my family and me.

January 1 was the 135th anniversary of my great-grandfather Vander Well’s arrival at Ellis Island. He arrived on the Holland America Line, though I suspect his ship wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the HAL Eurodam that Wendy and I enjoyed a couple of months ago. He was traveling by himself. It is believed that the death of his father, followed by his mother’s marriage to an older man who’d once been her teacher, angered him enough to leave his family and emigrate to America as a young man all by himself. It’s wild for me to think how fleeing his family’s issues changed life for both himself and his descendants.

This year is also the 20th anniversary of my move to Pella from Des Moines, which is my hometown. To be honest, moving to Pella was not my idea, nor did I initially want to make the move. The reasons for doing so are intertwined with no longer important issues in my first marriage. Like my great-grandfather, it was family issues that propelled the move. It is wild for me to think just how much the move to Pella has changed the course of my life, ultimately for the positive, in so many ways. At this point, I can’t imagine ever leaving Pella.

In today’s chapter, the resentment of the Jewish Temple establishment finally spills over against the growing Jesus Movement. With the stoning of Stephen, the Temple rulers began a crackdown in which believers in Jerusalem were sought out, arrested, and thrown in prison. As a result, many believers fled Jerusalem to find refuge in other towns throughout Judea and Samaria.

What’s fascinating is to reflect back on Jesus’ commission to the first disciples before His ascension: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus made it clear to His disciples that the mission was to spread out from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Yet, through the first seven chapters of Acts, there’s no evidence that the Apostles and the exploding number of new believers had any intention of leaving Jerusalem. In fact, as the persecution breaks out, the Apostles (Jesus’ original disciples) stay in Jerusalem while the other believers flee. Were they waiting for Jesus to send them instructions? Whatever the reason, today’s chapter makes it evident that it was persecution that moved believers with Jesus’ message to Judea and Samaria as Jesus originally intended.

Along my own life journey, I’ve learned that God sometimes uses difficult circumstances to propel me to the place I’m supposed to be, where God has purposes for me I could never have known or expected. When unexpected and uncomfortable events arise, I have to remember that God may ultimately have purposes for me in the pain that I couldn’t possibly imagine.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.