1 Corinthians 16:8-9
"In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me." (NLT)
"But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." (NIV)
"But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." (NKJV)
"For the present, I'm staying right here in Ephesus. A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here. (There is also mushrooming opposition.)" (The Message)
We can all get behind a wide-open door of opportunity. It makes me think of an offensive line in a football game creating a huge hole for the running back to go through. A TV commentator might say something like, "Man, you could have driven a semi-truck through there!"
There are some doors in life that God opens to us that are just too obvious not to walk through. We want to hang around where God's hand is obviously at work, especially if we can play an active role in it with things like our call to write.
But what about the opposition and adversary part?
"And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead?" – 1 Corinthians 15:32a
You can read about a key story regarding that opposition Paul is referring to in Acts 19:23-41. A silversmith named Demetrius stirred up a riot by accusing Paul and his companions of trying to make their god Artemis irrelevant and diminish its influence. At the root of this was the threat of losing business and livelihood.
But why would Paul want to hang around a place like this?
1.) Paul considered it a privilege to suffer for Christ (Philippians 1:29)
2.) Opposition is a sign that the work (writing) we do is being effective. I would even argue that the more fruitful and effective our work for the Lord, the fiercer the opposition.
Paul is such a good model for us as Kingdom Writers. We need not be discouraged when we face opposition from an enemy and a world opposed to our Kingdom message.
Perhaps we can form a muscle memory response of considering it a privilege and blessing when opposition arises.
As priestly pens in the hands of the Author of Life, let's continue being on the lookout for those wide-open doors of opportunity!
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