The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 NKJV.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. Psalm 56:3 ESV.

I love how Scripture gives hope and direction. In our chapter, Acts 25, the new governor, Festus, goes to Jerusalem where the chief priests and leading men bring charges against Paul. They want him brought to Jerusalem so he can be killed, v. 1-3. Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. “Therefore,” he said, “let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.” After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove, while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” v. 4-11. Imagine what this must be like for the Jewish leaders. Paul was the zealous one for stopping the followers of Jesus and now he is a powerful witness of one changed by Jesus Himself. And now he is before Roman Governors telling of who Jesus is. And Paul is a Roman citizen. He appeals to Caesar and Festus tells him, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. So after they had assembled here, I did not delay but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters. But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” v. 11-21. King Agrippa wants to hear Paul. The next day amidst great pomp in the auditorium with commanders and prominent men of the city, Paul is brought in. Imagine what that was like for all involved. Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.” v. 24-27.

Can we appreciate the movement of all that is happening? Paul had been the one persecuting the Jews, men and women, turned to faith in Jesus, the Son, the Christ. And when Jesus stopped him and asked him why he was persecuting Him, Paul was forever changed. He was devout in his love for God and now he is truly doing God’s will. Jesus told Paul he would go to Rome, the seat of Roman rule. Paul is bringing the truth of God before Governors and Kings, and will also go to Rome itself. Can we also see the times then? Paul was doing this knowing he could be put to death. These were dangerous times. Who do we listen to? In Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, there is no darkness at all. As we turn to Him, He gives us hope and strength to follow Him faithfully. Do we listen to the darkness or to God?