My devotional: Greatly distressed?

By Liz Omondi | Email: timestodayke@gmail.com | Image credit: vectorstock.com

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

Acts 17:16-17 NIV

What is does it mean to be distressed? The Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary defines distress as a feeling of great worry or unhappiness; great suffering.

This definition already uses the adjective ‘great’. Now, add the adjective ‘great’ to an already highly distressing situation. That is how Paul felt when he stepped into Athens.

Are there things that greatly distress you as a believer or have we acclimatised to all the evil around us?

The sight of idols in Athens was enough to greatly distress Paul and so he did something about it. He went to the churches of those days as well as the marketplace everyday and reasoned with those who happened to be there.

I consider myself young, but when I see my peers doing things in my view that are contrary to the Word of God, because they are considered fashionable, I get very uncomfortable. When I hear politicians use uncouth or demeaning language, I get very jittery. When I read, or hear, manifestos with extremely cockeyed ideas, worries start sprouting.

Do I in a respectful manner address, or speak out against the things I see perhaps on social media, or physically as Paul did, or am I stunned into silence by the evils in society that silent prayers are all I can murmur in my closet?

What Paul did in Acts 17 challenges me to act when I see evil around me. Keeping quite does not help anyone, or make things better. God has put me in a position as a believer to seize every opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A few verses down the line, Paul uses this same opportunity as an entry point to preach about Jesus Christ. Acts 17:22-23 says,

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.”

I am also reminded of a Scripture where Jesus was not happy with what was happening in the temple courts. He did not keep quiet about it, or wish it away. He acted swiftly. Mark 11:15-17 says,

“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Father forgive my inertness with regard to highly distressing issues around me. Please give me the courage to act when I need to and the wisdom to know when to keep quiet. Help me to seize the opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spaces you have placed me in. In Jesus’ Name, Amen