Bloom Where God Has Planted You

Review

Turn to Acts 9:19-43.

Saul of Tarsus experienced a wonderful transformation when on the road to Damascus, he met the Lord Jesus. There were two conclusions that Saul reached:

Jesus is Lord.

Jesus deserves my allegiance and my service

Saul’s life would never be the same after that meeting. Immediately he began to preach Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, leaving the Jews astonished at the change in his life.

Message

Read Acts 9:19-31.

I grew up watching my parents cultivate a garden. Nearly every year in the springtime I could count on my parents putting something in the garden, as time permitted. Over the years I remember enjoying fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, peas, beans, squash, rhubarb, and more. Unfortunately their knowledge didn’t pass in the bloodstream and evidently I didn’t pay enough attention to their instruction either because I didn’t acquire much of a green thumb.

I did, however, learn enough about plants to realize that I liked two kinds of plants:

Plants that were low maintenance.

Plants that were hard to kill. You know, the ones that could grow just about anywhere.

Those were the kind of plants that I came to enjoy - plants that were low maintenance and that would bloom just about anywhere.

Today we’re going to look at two men, Saul and Peter. We are reaching an inflection point in the book of Acts where the focus is going to shift from Peter to Saul, but we’re not there yet. We’re in the transition stage. At this time in history, these two men had one point in common. It was that they both were in seasons of preparation, but they each chose to bloom where God had planted them.

They were low maintenance - they didn’t make demands or give God a list of conditions.

They had “thick skin” so to speak - even though they were thrust into a new set of circumstances, they chose to grow just about anywhere.

I’ve entitled today’s message, Blooming Where God Has Planted You.

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Saul’s preparation for ministry - Acts 9:23-31.

Last week we learned that after his conversion, Saul immediately began preaching Christ in the synagogues of Damascus. That is true, but Saul adds some more context when he retells the story to the Galatians in Galatians chapter one.

Read Galatians 1:13-17.

Paul tells the believers in the region of Galatia that after he was saved on the road to Damascus, he did not get counsel of men. He did not commit to following any of the apostles like he had followed the great Jewish teacher, Gamaliel. Rather, he went into Arabia.

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He went into the desert region outside of Damascus.

Now why did he go out there? To evangelize? No, it was so that he could be taught by Jesus Christ Himself.

Read Galatians 1:11-12.

Saul was handpicked by Christ to be apostle, a representative of Christ to the Gentiles. His preparation for ministry did not come by the other apostles of Christ, but by Christ himself, just as the other apostles had been taught. Eventually, Saul returned to Damascus and for three years he boldly preached Christ in the synagogues, but this was just the beginning of his preparation.

Turn back to Acts chapter nine. Verse 23 indicates that after a long time (3 years, Galatians 1:18), the Jews attempted to kill Saul.

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He escaped Damascus by being let down over the wall in a basket and he fled to Jerusalem.

Verse 26 suggests that Saul thought he would be welcomed by the believers there. He attempted to fellowship with them, but what happened? They all ran away! They didn’t believe him when he said that he was one of them!

I wonder how that made Saul feel. He’s just trying to serve God and his very own brothers in Christ won’t have anything to do with him!

What on earth was God doing?

God was just preparing him. It was just another time of preparation where God wanted to use those circumstances to prepare him for something later in life.

But then Barnabas enters the scene. Barnabas took him under his wing, believed his story, and brought him to the apostles and the rest of the church in Jerusalem. Saul would stay in Jersualem for 15 days (Galatians 1:18), but again, threats were soon made against his life, so he fled to his hometown, Tarsus.

According to Galatians 2:1, he would not see Jerusalem again for fourteen years, which most likely seems to correspond to his visit in Acts chapter 11. But what was happening in the meantime? What was Paul doing in Tarsus for many of those years?

Preparing. Waiting. He served God while he was in Damascus and then in Tarsus, but that was not God’s final destination for him. God had him preparing for the next step in his life. While Saul waited, he chose to bloom where he was planted.

He didn’t waste time.

He didn’t grow discontent and wish for something more.

He didn’t get impatient with God.

He didn’t get ahead of God.

He didn’t lag behind God.

He chose to bloom where he was planted!

Application: Christian, it doesn’t matter what stage of life you are in, God intends to use today to prepare you for tomorrow. So make full use of today.

I’m sure this never happens to you, but I tend to get impatient sometimes. I might even recognize that God has me waiting on purpose because I’m not ready for something, but even then, I get impatient with God. I want to skip the time of preparation and go to the next chapter. I don’t want to endure the time of preparation; I want to arrive at the destination.

Christian, if Saul had not studied with Christ in the deserts of Arabia, he would not have been ready to preach in the cities of the Roman Empire.

“Pastor Tim”, you might be thinking to yourself. “I’m getting up in years. My tomorrow might be my last.”

Then God wants to use today to prepare you for your transition to eternity. Make the most of this day, because there is not a single day that is wasted in God’s plan for your life. He wants you to make the most of today. Bloom where God has planted you.

If that means raising children or grandchildren, then you raise them for the glory of God!

If that means clocking in and clocking out at the job site day after day, then you clock in and clock out for the glory of God!

If that means doctors visits, scans, consultations, surgeries, therapies, and pharmacy runs, then you do that today for the glory of God!

If that means enduring some great hardship today, then depend upon the grace of God and endure today for the glory of God!

God’s plan for your existence is that you might bring glory to His name! So bloom where God has planted you - whether in the isolated deserts of Arabia with the Son of God or by quietly serving him for an unknown number of years in the university town of Tarsus. Be like Saul and bloom wherever God plants you.

So we see this principle in Saul’s life, but we see this in Peter’s life as well.

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Peter’s preparation for greater ministry - Acts 9:32-43.

Acts—The Church Afire 17: Peter’s Preparation for Greater Ministry

Nicolo Paganini, the great concert violinist, stood before a packed house, surrounded by a full orchestra. He played a number of difficult pieces, then came to one of his favorites, a violin concerto. Shortly after he was underway, as the Italian audience sat in rapt attention, one of the strings on his violin snapped. Relying on his genius, he improvised and played on the next three strings. Shortly thereafter a second string broke on his instrument. He again began to improvise and continued playing the piece. Almost at the end of the magnificent concerto, a third string snapped! Amazingly, he finished the piece on one string.

The audience stood to its feet and applauded until their hands were numb. They assumed the concert was over. But Paganini proceeded to play an encore with the full orchestra. He made more music out of one string than many violinists ever could on four. Paganini took what appeared to be a most difficult situation and turned it into a triumph. His attitude made all the difference.

No matter what we pursue in life—music, athletics, education, business, homemaking, politics—attitude is key. Nowhere is this more important than in the spiritual life.

Peter, the apostle, had already done great things for God, but his attitude was hindering him from an even greater ministry. This was the man who said that he would follow the Savior anywhere, so the Savior was about to put that to the test. The test is found in Acts chapter ten, where God would tell Peter to go and preach the Gospel to Gentiles. It seems that Peter was not ready to do that yet. Some preparation was needed. That preparation for greater ministry came in the form of two people: Æneas and Tabitha.

Read Acts 9:32-43.

We don’t know to what extent, but based on the description, Æneas was a man who had been paralyzed for eight years. He was helpless, bedridden, and dependent upon others for his care. Peter meets him and in the name of Jesus Christ, he heals the man. Literally, he tells him, “get up and take care of yourself. Make your bed.” God works a miracle, this man’s life is transformed, and many others turn to Christ also. This circumstance proved that God was willing and able to do great miracles among the Gentiles also. Æneas was a Jewish man living in a predominantly Gentile city. This was an unusual circumstance for Peter and he remembered it well.

But then we come to this story of Tabitha.

Tabitha lived continually doing kindness to others. Her life was full of good works, but she because ill and died. Many mourned her loss and showed to each other the clothing that she had made. The disciples of the Lord in Joppa heard that Peter was nearby, so they asked him to come. Peter agrees to the request, comes, and to everyone’s surprise, soon presents Tabitha to the mourners, risen from the dead.

Again, “The miracles were performed on Jews among Jews, but the environments of the commercial centers of Lydda and Joppa were generally Gentile. God’s power was operative through Peter in a pagan environment…”

R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 143.

This miracle was amazing, but this miracle was not the test for Peter. No, the test is found in verse 43, where Peter takes up residence for many days with a man that was a tanner.

Acts—The Church Afire (Prepared by Personal Experience (9:32–43))

The significance of this is that a tanner’s place of business was anathema to a [devout] Jew. It was highly unpleasant and smelly, and animals were slain there. Tanners were ostracized and had to live fifty cubits outside of town. Rabbinical law stated that if a betrothed woman discovered that her fiancé was involved in tanning, she could break the engagement. However, Peter had met a Jewish tanner who loved Jesus, and he was willing to associate with him. God was at work in the impulsive apostle’s heart. The old biases were wearing thin.

To the old Peter, staying in a tanner’s house would have been unthinkable, and he would have proclaimed his disgust loud and clear. But God was preparing Peter for greater ministry and Peter chose to bloom wherever he was planted.

Application: Christian, what are the uncomfortable circumstances that God has you in?

Where does God have you right now that is outside your comfort zone or that is putting you under pressure?

Maybe you’re like Saul, where God hasn’t opened the door and allowed you to take the next step.

Wherever you might be in life, I assure you of this: God desires to use your today to prepare you for tomorrow. Make the most of where God has you right now. Don’t chafe at God’s plan. Time spent preparing is never time wasted. Like Saul and Peter, bloom where God has planted you.