"Through many tribulations."

What if this difficult time is something you really have to go through?

I’m sitting in Rochester, Minnesota, once again as my wife prepares for another two-week stint at the Mayo Clinic. As I did my prayer and journaling time this morning, I got clear direction to just read. So that’s what I did, and the verses that stood out to me may also be important for you.

I’ve been slowly working my way through the book of Acts. Why? I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to. This morning, I read Acts 14 and I was struck by several things. Most importantly, though, was the fact that Paul — a titan of the faith — was stoned.

I knew in the back of my mind that Paul was stoned at some point, but I didn’t know the exact details. In Acts 14, we get them. But here’s the interesting part: we get them, but we don’t. There really aren’t many details. And that’s part of what struck me. It’s almost like Paul being stoned and nearly dying is a footnote. It’s an, “Oh, by the way.” Take a look at how it’s described:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded t…