Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Acts 22:30; 23:6–11
There are nights when courage is gone.
We feel weak. We feel overwhelmed. The heart is tired. The mind cannot rest.
It is simply too much.
Too many voices. Too much pressure. Too many accusations. Too many eyes watching.
We cannot take it anymore.
Paul knows such a day.
He stands before the chief priests and the whole council.
He is questioned. Judged. Surrounded.
He speaks of the resurrection, and the room breaks open.
Some shout one thing. Some shout another.
The trial becomes confusion. The crowd becomes dangerous.
Paul is taken away.
And then comes the night.
The noise is gone.
But fear enters.
What will happen now?
Will he die here?
Was all this mission worth it?
Has everything come to an end?
Then Jesus stands near.
Near.
In the darkness. In the prison. In the fear. In the uncertainty.
The Lord stands near Paul and says:
“Take courage.”
A small sentence.
Enough for the night.
“Just as you have testified to me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Rome.
That one word opens the darkness.
Paul’s enemies think they have trapped him.
But Christ sees a road.
Paul sees danger. Christ sees mission.
Paul sees the night. Christ sees Rome.
This is Emmanuel.
God with us.
Not only in bright places. Not only when the road is clear. Not only when the heart is strong.
With us in the night.
Jesus promised:
“I am with you always.”
Paul’s prison becomes a witness that the promise is true.
We also have nights.
A night after failure. A night after rejection. A night after bad news.
A night when the future feels closed. A night when prayer feels silent. A night when we wonder whether we can continue.
In that night, we do not need many words.
We need one presence.
The Lord standing near.
We need one sentence.
Take courage.
Your story is not finished.
There is still a road. There is still a witness. There is still a Rome you have not yet reached.
So tonight, bring him your fear.
Bring him your tired heart.
Bring him the place where you feel surrounded.
And listen.
The Lord is not far.
He stands near.
And when he stands near, even the night becomes a beginning.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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