‘The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”’
Acts 25:23-27
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.25.23-27
This is interesting because here Governor Felix acknowledges the charges that the Jews were bringing against Paul and that he had nothing to write about him for him to be tried before Caesar. Paul had committed no crime, but it seems that Felix felt pressured to do something only because the mobs were so out of control and demanding that he be put to death. He was so disturbed by them that he was even willing to make something up in order to appease them. He brought Paul before King Agrippa for his help in knowing what to write about him. He did not know what to do to stop the mobs and just wanted to appease them. I have been sitting here trying to understand Felix’s perspective and that is the only sense I can make of it. He was not strong enough to stand his ground and was being manipulated by the mobs. This was an injustice to Paul, but the encouragement is that even though the governing authorities were not strong enough to ensure justice be done in this case, God was and is sovereign and He still had Paul’s back. God was the only One Paul could truly depend on.
God is truly the only One we can depend on because everyone else is human and imperfect. Humans can and will fail us at some point. It is not that we go around fearful and not trusting people, but we do need to ensure that we are only depending on God and that we have boundaries with people. When we are dependent on God alone, He will give us discernment with people so that we do not have to live in uncertainty and fear. Again, it is not walking around distrusting everyone, but instead we are using divine discernment and keeping healthy boundaries for ourselves and respecting the boundaries of others. Lord, I pray You increase our discernment and help us to depend only on You. Help us to see the red flags when people are not trustworthy or healthy for us. Help us to not be toxic, either. Increase our discernment and emotional intelligence. Help us to build and keep healthy boundaries (for ourselves and others) and to have and maintain healthy connections with others. Open our eyes to the cues around us. Show us who our people are and surround us with them, Lord. Protect and bless all our relationships and may the enemy not isolate us in Jesus’ Name. We are stronger together, but God is our main source that we are to depend on!! I also pray that You protect us from injustice in Jesus’ Name!! Amen!!!
lovekr7 