The Pharisee Saul was intent on eradicating “The Way” and its followers. Not only did he oppose their teaching, he also was proactive in seeking out those who belonged to the Way in order to arrest and imprison them (Acts 9.1-2). In his mind, they were enemies of God for they were teaching that through Jesus God was now extending his salvation to the Gentiles. And so those who belonged to the Way had to be stopped at all costs.
Then, he encountered the Way himself. He realized that the Way was not just a teaching about a person, but an actual person who died but was now truly alive—Jesus the Christ. He embraced the Way and everything changed in his life (Acts 9.3-22).
Years later, the Pharisee Saul is now known as Paul the Christian missionary. He explains that following the Way is actually in alignment with, and not against, the will of God. “I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets” (Acts 24.14 CSB).
The apostle Peter, like Saul and his fellow Jews, had resisted the idea that God was actually reaching out to the Gentiles. Then, the Lord sends him to the house of the Gentile Cornelius. When he preaches the gospel, Cornelius and his household believe and receive the Holy Spirit. Peter later describes how the Holy Spirit came upon Gentile believers, just as he had upon Jewish believers. Then he declares: “And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11.17 NLT)
With these words Peter raises an important issue. Peter’s preferences as a Jew presented an obstacle in the advance of the gospel of the kingdom. Saul’s zeal as a Pharisee, opposing the Way, was actually getting in the way of God’s purpose. But now they knew better.
Like Paul and Peter, I must come to recognize that what matters is not my own agenda or desires, but what God is doing and what he wants to accomplish. It is presumptuous, audacious, and impudent to even think that my way might be better than and preferable over God’s way. And once I recognize what God is doing and seeking to accomplish, it would be wise to get out of his way.
Let’s take it a step further. Not only did Peter or Paul get out of the way, they also joined God on the way toward the fulfillment of God’s purpose. They responded to God’s call to be partners with him in bringing the gospel of God’s grace to bear upon all peoples and upon all areas of human life. And I ought to ask: Am I in the way of God, or on the way with God?
—Keith Y. Jainga