Unstoppable! 'Growth Despite Previous Opposition' — Acts 9:30-31

This summary is Luke's way of saying that the message of Jesus and the growth of believers are unstoppable. The Holy Spirit empowered the believers for this growth. I pray that it can truthfully be said that this unstoppable growth occurs in my generation also! But I cannot help but wonder how Saul felt. He had turned his life around completely. He gave up everything that he once held dear about his Jewish faith. Then, he was sent to his hometown for his own protection, and the church grew without him in the picture. Saul had clearly been effective in his teaching about Jesus, but he also knew that his continued presence in Jerusalem was a threat both to him and to the church, so he left. His leaving ended the immediate threat and, in this case, the church did well without him. We know that he was glad for the growth, but ouch! Things went better when he was out of the picture. That had to be discouraging! It appears that Paul went silent for a decade while the dust settled and he was refined.