Acts 14: 1-7

14 At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. ⁴ The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. ⁵ There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. ⁶ But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, ⁷ where they continued to preach the gospel.

- Acts 14: 1-7

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When Paul and Barnabas went and spoke at Iconium into a Jewish synagogue, many people believed. That was a very good start in their mission at Iconium and probably very encouraging that when you do something you immediately see amazing feedback. However, it’s not always amazing and things don’t always go our way. There would always be obstacles coming up. Reading today’s passage, we can see Paul and Barnabas’ perseverance in spreading the word of God.

We see that despite many believing, there are still many that were not happy about what Paul and Barnabas are doing. We read that Jews poisoned Gentiles' minds and in a sense, they kind of teamed up against them. But this does not discourage our brothers and they still kept teaching. If anything, because of that they stayed longer at Iconium to “speak boldly of the Lord”. They didn’t let that seemingly failure get to them but instead that caused them to do more and continue teaching about our God. Because Paul and Barnabas have faith in our Lord God, even if there was an obstacle they still persevered in their mission. “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” (Romans 5:3).

When we do the works of God, it’s not always going to be easy. We can start strong and be encouraged by it, but the challenge is staying strong throughout. We can’t let failure get to us, but instead, we should have hope and be reminded of God’s love and that he is always with us. “Hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5)