10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
From this passage, I am reminded that as Christians we are called to persevere and believe in the power the Gospel holds. In the previous verses (Acts 17: 1-9) we see that the Jews in Thessalonica get jealous of Paul and Silas's following and ultimately chase the two out of the city. And personally, if I had been in this situation I don't know if I would continue to share the gospel elsewhere; I would probably be too afraid of persecution. However, Paul and Silas know that the Gospel is too precious to just keep it to themselves. The two of them go to Berea where they once again teach in the Jewish synagogue, this time their words were accepted. But once the Jews from Thessalonica hear about what Paul and Silas are doing, the Jews come to stir up trouble in Berea.
Through Paul and Silas's actions, I learn to not let my circumstances change the truth. I learn that regardless of my surroundings, Christ, and what He did on the cross for me is my foundation. As Christians, we can let bad things prevent us from obeying God OR we can trust that God is sovereign and know that we will be faced with difficulties everywhere, but God will be there with us through it all.
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