“...He rose up and came into the city….” ACTS 14:20
If you're going through a time of difficulty or hardship, read these words: “Then Jews...came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city” (v. 19-20 NKJV). Notice two phrases: “supposing him to be dead” and “he rose up.” Paul was stoned but not silenced; beaten but not defeated. Paul wrote on one occasion, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV). Imagine Satan standing over Paul like a referee standing over a boxer who's on the canvass. On the count of nine Paul gets up and says, “I may be down, but I'm not out!” Paul was an optimist to the heart, a self-encourager and someone who knew how to lift himself and those around him.
