Acts 8 -- beyond the comfort zone

Our family owns a Welsh Corgi. Even though the herding instinct has been dialed back for the pet version of the breed, it's still there. Given certain triggers, especially time-related, Pippin erupts in a frenzy of barking, as he seeks to herd the family in the anticipated direction. Suppertime. Reading time. Whenever a time-word, like ready, or now, is uttered by the alpha dog (me). Then, when everyone is where they ought to be, a doggy grin rests on his countenance. All is right with his strange little world.

We all enjoy predictability. However, the God of the Bible is whimsical. We know what He will do -- over generations, reward the faithful and disinherit the wicked and unbelieving. The how, though, is another story. Or actually, a whole life filled with unanticipated events which add up, over time, to high adventure and rich satisfaction.

The Church in Jerusalem got pushed out of their comfort zone:

Act 8:3 Saul ise inanlılar topluluğunu kırıp geçiriyordu. Ev ev dolaşarak, kadın erkek demeden imanlıları dışarı sürüklüyor, hapse atıyordu.
Act 8:4 Bunun sonucu dağılan imanlılar, gittikleri her yerde Tanrı sözünü müjdeliyorlardı.

Ah, here are a few interesting words!

• Ev ev -- House to house
  
• dağılmak -- to scatter
  
• her yerde -- at every place
  

On the one hand, we see a "great disturbance in the force." People are running for their lives. Escaping familiar homes and neighborhoods. Apparently, there's always been a lot of that going on in this fallen world. However, these people are also proclaiming the word of God everywhere they go. A disaster has become an opportunity.

For those with the right attitude, times of transition -- moving to a new city for a new opportunity, taking classes abroad -- are also times that create an intensification of life, and the most memorable pictures in the family scrapbook.