“The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.’” (v. 11)

This might not be the most comforting thing you’ve ever heard. But, when we look to Paul’s biography, it’s worth hearing more clearly.

However hard it has been, it might get worse.

However hard it has been—to be faithful, to testify to Christ openly and honestly, to suffer the criticism and accusation and abuse of the wider world—it may get worse.

Paul finishes testifying in Jerusalem—and he is put on trial, beaten, and imprisoned. And there, in the jailer’s chains, he is told: What you have done here, you will do in Rome, too. In Rome, Paul won’t even share the religious background of those he will witness to. He’s going to go to a pagan place and proclaim the dominion of Christ right under Caesar’s nose. And it will get worse!

So how in the world do we find comfort in this, if this is also our life’s trajectory?

We find it in the fact that the Lord was with Paul all the way. He stood by the man in Jerusalem. He will be with the man in Rome. And, by grace, He promises to be with us.

It may get worse. But He goes with you.

— Tyler