If Only...

Acts 7:54-56 (NIV) When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  

Stephen gave testimony to God’s love of mankind. He shared the story of God’s faithfulness to his people by recalling the life of Abraham and the promise of countless heirs to a man well past his prime. He went on to tell them things they already knew in an effort to remind them of their heritage. They, being well versed in the scriptures, should have recognized Jesus was their long-awaited Savior.

Stephen’s speech to these leaders effectively touched them.  Their guilt overtook their sense of right and wrong.  They were enraged at the boldness of Stephen’s words and they reacted. It would seem they reacted out of fear.  Fear that Stephen’s words were true; and they did actually put their Savior to death.  The idea they might have done wrong by Jesus was more than they could handle.

How many times have I made a bad situation worse?  How often has one moment of poor judgment compounded with another and another just because I was too proud to admit my mistake? Many times I have looked back over such events with regret and shame.  I begin playing the, ‘if-only’ game. In my mind I replay the events and recognize where I made my first mistake.

Perhaps that is what these men are doing.  If they wouldn't let their pride get in the way they had a chance to do things differently this time.  But that was not to be the case.  We can learn a huge lesson from this story. We might feel as though this didn't end well for Stephen, but think again. God was right there with him, until the very end and beyond.

He is there for us too.  When we make foolish and costly mistakes there is forgiveness.  We have opportunity after opportunity to repent, to make it right, to never play the ‘if-only’ game again.

Acts 7:54-8:3