Acts 20 | Encouragement in Goodbyesنموونە

Entrusting Each Other into God’s Hands

It was time for Paul to leave the elders of the Ephesian church. “What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again” (Acts 20:38, NIV).

There was nothing more to be said. The only thing left was the leaving. They all got down on their knees and prayed. There was no more delaying the inevitable. They embraced Paul and wept. Surprisingly, Luke writes in Acts 20:38 that the elders were sad because they knew that they would never see Paul again. They weren’t sad about what they would face or the persecution that Paul had described; they knew that God would be there for them. They were sad because their friend and spiritual mentor was leaving; they were going to miss Paul.

Sometimes we have to say goodbye according to God’s greater will or guidance. Paul and the Ephesian elders felt it. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean that you live a life free of emotion; Jesus didn’t. He wept when he arrived in Bethany at the grave of his friend Lazarus.

So Paul commits them to God. When we say goodbye, entrusting those we love to God can be the most encouraging of things. It says, “I trust you.” It says, “You’ve got this.” It says, “God’s got you.” It says, “Take heart. There’s no better place to be than in God’s hands.”

Sometimes, encouragement is what we provide regularly as we do life together. But sometimes it is a final charge when life together is something that circumstances no longer allow. Sometimes the greatest encouragement is letting a person know that you love them or trust them, and that they don’t need you anymore. Sometimes it’s letting go and letting them know it’s because they are in the hands of God. The greatest encouragement is pointing them towards what they’ll find in Jesus, far more than what they’ll find in us.

Be a person of encouragement.

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