Devotional: God Makes Lemonade: Acts 22:14-21

“And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Annita was a teacher’s assistance. She was known to be a worker with integrity and honesty. The teachers appreciated her work and the students loved her because of her kindness shown to them. She went beyond requirements to help the students to see themselves as a person that was capable of doing great things.

One day, Annita and another employee had a disagreement. An argument ensued and harsh words were said. Annita went home. She was thinking that maybe she had gone too far and because of some of the things that she said she might get fired from her job. As she was thinking about what her consequences might be the telephone rang. When she answered the phone it was a call from the principle. He wanted to know if she might be interested in a position for a school secretary. Annita was interested. She was told to go to the school and apply for the opening. Nothing was ever said about the incident that had taken place earlier in the day. The Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.

InActs21-26 we have a detailed account of Paul’s defense of the gospel that he had been preaching. Paul had completed his third missionary journey, and he had returned to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, he was met by many acts of opposition and hostilities. Paul appeared before governors, kings, and the council defending his calling to preach. These experiences left a bitter taste in his mouth. However, Paul trusted that he had been called and appointed by the Lord to preach to both Jews and Gentiles. After appearing before the council the Lord spoke words of assurance to Paul. “But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have so solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also” (Acts 23:11, NASB).

Life experiences often leave a bitter taste in our mouths, like a lemon. The Lord takes our lemon experiences and makes lemonade experiences. Annita got the job as secretary, and Paul went to Roman. Do not give up because of your lemon experiences. The Lord can use your lemons to make lemonade.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for being with us in our lemon experiences. Amen.