Acts 21:13, 14  Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.” (CSB)

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Paul had nothing left to prove. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He wasn’t trying to save his own skin. He was ready for whatever was next. 

From the time he met Jesus on the Damascus Road until this moment, he understood his life was maximized by saying Yes to whatever Jesus asked or commanded. Jesus even told Ananias, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name,” (Acts 9:16). 

Paul embraced the One who had embraced, called, and commissioned him. He endured all manner of difficulties, problems, and persecutions. He had also survived and thrived, and he had seen the Kingdom of God spread like yeast in dough. 

If he got beat up again, what of it? If he got thrown in jail again, so what? If he died in Jerusalem like Jesus, surely it would lead to more men and women coming to see Jesus for who he is and receiving him as their Messiah. 

Paul wasn’t being cocky with a “Bring it on” swagger. Paul was confident that whatever lay ahead had to be filtered through the very nail-pierced hands of Jesus. Whatever Jesus wanted, that’s what he wanted, too. 

What do you say to someone so convinced of God’s purpose that he is willing to go wherever he is sent, even if it could mean making the ultimate sacrifice? You say what Luke and Paul’s other traveling companions and friends said in Acts 21:14: “The Lord’s will be done.”

This was no fatalistic Que Sera Sera moment. This was not fatalism. This was confidence that the Savior who called and equipped Paul and who had led him around the population centers of the Mediterranean was still leading him. There were more projects and tasks ahead. There would be no more delays; it was time to go.

Paul understood his life mission was not about himself; it was about Jesus. It was not about impressing others or major accomplishments. It was about telling the Good News to everyone who needed to hear it and experience it for themselves. 

What did Paul’s next steps make possible? Some of the sweetest fruit of his life work was produced in the years following this Spirit-led journey. Paul did the heavy lifting, the hard work necessary for the Kingdom of God to reach all the way to us. Thank God he didn’t shrink back from the hard times and high points that lay before him at this moment of decision. 

Quick question: What do your hard times and high points make possible as you give Jesus your unqualified Yes?

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I will answer Yes to whatever Jesus asks, knowing it is the best thing for me and for everyone I influence.

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