“As we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea” (Acts 21:10).
Steve will never forget the first time he had to walk up to the door of strangers and let them know their son had been killed during military service. Moving stiffly in his full-dress uniform, heart pounding, he knocked on the door and waited. The couple who opened the door knew what he would say before he said it. They had already begun weeping.
Giving bad news is never fun. It is often psychologically traumatic for both the deliverer and the recipient of that news.
One day God directed Agabus, a prophet of the early Christian church, to Antioch, where Paul and other disciples had gathered. Imagine how Agabus felt as he delivered to Paul the news that if he continued on to Jerusalem, he would be captured by the Jews and turned over to the Ro- mans. He hated to bring this bad news, but Paul needed to be warned of the serious situation that awaited him.
When he met the apostle, instead of launching directly into the ominous words, Agabus took Paul’s belt off and tied his own hands and feet with it. Then he said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’ ” (Acts 21:11).
It must have been heartbreaking for Agabus as he watched Paul’s friends dissolve into tears, weeping and begging the apostle not to continue with his trip. Paul was so shaken by the outpouring of love and emotion that he began crying himself. Agabus stood apart from the conversation. Paul’s mind seemed to be already made up, feeling that the Spirit of God was leading him on to Jerusalem.
As painful as his assignment had been, Agabus must have taken comfort in the knowledge that he was carrying out his duty and upholding the truth that had been revealed to him.
Dear Lord, help me to ever uphold Your truth, even when it means others that I may experience pain as a result.
