Acts 23

When the Journey Feels Like a Pinball Machine

Have you ever had a week—or a season—when everything felt out of control? When the plan you had was shredded by interruptions, emergencies, and unexpected twists? That’s the kind of moment we find ourselves pondering in Acts 23. As we walked through this chapter, we couldn’t help but feel like Paul’s journey resembled a pinball machine—ricocheting from one threat to the next, but somehow still moving forward under God’s hand.

The Significance of Place

What struck us most at the beginning of Acts 23 wasn’t just the chaos around Paul, but where it was happening. Paul stands before the Sanhedrin—likely in the same room where, 20 years earlier, he had condemned Stephen to death. The same room where he once wielded power to persecute the early church, he now stands as a prisoner of Christ.

It reminded us of sacred places in our own lives. The sanctuary where some of us were baptized, where family members were married and eulogized, where countless sermons were preached—spaces soaked with spiritual history. Those places carry weight. For Paul, that courtroom must have held a deeply complex mix of memory, grief, and redemption.

We thought about how some spaces in our lives evoke similar feelings—of joy, trauma, growth, or healing. And we asked ourselves: are there places where we’ve seen God’s hand repeatedly over time? How might God use even painful memories as ground for redemption?

When We’re Empty, He Stands Near

Paul doesn’t just face religious arguments and political threats in this chapter—he faces the exhaustion of a soul poured out. Pharisees and Sadducees are fighting around him, a mob is trying to kill him, and the Roman guards are yanking him out of danger. He’s been beaten, imprisoned, misunderstood. And then comes verse 11: “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’”

We paused there. Because we’ve all had those moments—emotionally drained, spiritually dry, physically depleted—when we just need Jesus to stand near. And He does.

That verse became a mirror for us. Where do we go when we need God’s presence? A quiet chair? A favorite trail? A worship song that re-centers us? For Paul, Jesus didn’t give him a new strategy—He gave him courage. Sometimes that’s all we need to keep going: the reminder that we are not alone.

God's Hand in the Details

We also loved how God worked through the small details—like Paul’s nephew overhearing an assassination plot. What are the odds? Yet God used this ordinary moment to save Paul’s life. It reminded us that divine intervention doesn’t always look like thunder and lightning. Sometimes it’s a conversation at a game, a run-in with an old friend, or a strange gut feeling we can’t ignore.

Life can feel like chaos—especially when we’re not sure what’s next. But as we look at Paul’s journey, we see how God was in every twist and turn. From the courtroom, to the barracks, to Herod’s palace, God was moving Paul toward Rome.

And isn’t that how God often works with us? We rarely get a straight-line path. We get the wilderness route. We get the long way around. But we get nearness. We get presence.

The Way of Wandering and Abiding

Reflecting on this chapter, we were reminded of a print we love—an artistic rendering of the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness. Not the shortest path. Not the cleanest route. But God’s route. The way of abiding.

That’s Paul’s story in Acts 23. That’s often our story, too.

So we take heart. Even when the path doesn’t make sense, even when the road is winding, we walk it knowing this: the Lord stands near. And as long as He’s with us, we have the strength to finish the race.