It Starts Small

We made it! Well Paul made it Rome and we are at the end of Acts! Pause for a moment and look back over this month. Maybe this is the first time you have ever read the book of Acts or maybe this is the first in many years. Let us practice giving ourselves mercy and be excited that we have come to the close of our study. We still have tomorrow reflection but let us not get weary on the last chapter!

Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

Acts 28:30

Paul made it to Rome! DO you feel a sense of relief? Look at where he started? He started on a road to Damascus and has finally arrived in Rome. It was not an easy journey. Can we take a bit of liberty and think about what Paul was thinking? In a mysterious way, it feels like Paul was “already there.” He was in no hurry or agitated. While he was there he wrote some of the most beloved scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit:

Philippians and Colossians

In these letters, Paul breaks out into worship about the humility and supremacy of Christ. I encourage you to take time to read these letters! In these letters, you get no hint of the “type-A” high achiever. You see a man on his knees, worshiping a Savior who he deeply loves.

You see Paul turn his eyes to gaze upon the face of his Savior. He soul was totally captured by Jesus. We can confidently know and see, there was a complete heart change in Paul. In Philippians 3, Paul proudly lists all his accomplishments and glaring achievements as a Pharisee. Then he says something so profound and remarkable!

⁷ But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ^[a]—the righteousness from God based on faith. ¹⁰ My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, ¹¹ assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Philippians 3:7-11

Dung. All of his accomplishments and achievements were but a rubbish dung pile. Success and achievements no longer cut it for Paul. They gave him no sense of peace or joy. Paul said, I want to know Christ. His heart was set on fire to know the Lord personally and intimately. His joy came not from a stack of pats on the back or trophies. No, this man’s peace and joy came from his close personal relationship with Jesus.

The new “normal” had arrived for Paul.

Four years in prison had allowed God to dig deep within the heart of Paul. Paul was secure and grounded. His external situation no longer determined his inner peace. We now understand Paul when he spoke:

¹¹ I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. ¹² I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. ¹³ I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

Can you see it?

In EVERY situation!

Friends, the new normal is not about the external circumstances.

Paul was not out of the woods. His plan to see Caesar was delayed another two years. His life, was not what we would think. He was still in “prison” (more like house arrest) , but look how he lived!

 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Acts 28:31

For Paul, the new normal was never conditioned to the circumstances, but a condition of his heart.

Too often we wait for our circumstances to change and bring us into the new normal, but we find ourselves lost and hopeless. Circumstances will never bring us to a new place in our heart. It never will. It can’t. It is the condition of our heart that brings us to a new normal in our circumstances.

Thoughts to Ponder:

• DO your circumstances define your understanding of God?
• Does your understanding of God define your circumstances?

© Kimberlee Smith 2025 http://www.itstartssmall.com All rights reserved.