The Evidence of God is All Around Us

Tuesday, September 8th, 2026

4:37 am

Good morning! Today I am in Acts 14:8-20. While Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra, they came upon a man that had been born with crippled feet, and had never walked. While Paul was preaching, the man stared straight at him, and Paul realized that he had the faith to be healed. So Paul called to the man, and told him to stand up. The man jumped to his feet and started walking. When the crowd saw this, they started praising Paul and Barnabas and saying that they were gods. Thinking that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes. Just outside this town was a temple of Zeus. The priests of the temple, and the crowd, brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to offer as sacrifices to them. But when Paul and Barnabas heard what the people were doing, they tore their clothes in dismay, and ran out to try and stop the people. Paul told the people that him and Barnabas were merely human beings, just like them, not gods. Telling them that they had come to them to bring them the Good News that they should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He tells them that in the past, God permitted them to go their own ways, but that He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. Telling them that rain and good crops, food and joyful hearts are evidence of Him. But Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the people from sacrificing to them. Then some Jews from Iconium and Antioch arrived and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Paul had performed a miraculous sign, healing the man instantly, but instead of the people turning to God, they treated Paul and Barnabas as gods. Paul and Barnabas even tried to stop the people, explaining to them that they were just normal people, that they were sent by God Himself. Telling the people they needed to stop worshiping the worthless gods that they were worshiping because there is only one true God. But the people did not listen. Then not only that, but they ended up turning against them and trying to kill them. We must be very careful because like these people went from worshiping Paul and Barnabas one minute, to trying to kill them the next, people change their minds very quickly about things. We must be careful to not put all of our faith and trust in people or circumstances, because these things can change at the drop of a hat. The only one that we can truly trust to never change is God. He never changes and His promises last forever. We must put our faith in trust in Him alone. Living to please Him and Him alone, not people. God is the one who created us and everything in this world, just like Paul told the crowd. The evidence of Him and His goodness is all around us, we just have to open our eyes to Him, and stop letting the world dictate what we should do or not do. When we start putting our trust in Him alone and not this world, we will be able to stand strong against whatever storm the enemy tries to throw at us. But we must stay grounded in Him. Look to Him, and allow Him to be your guide.