“I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:11) Paul felt compelled by God to go to Rome. In yesterday’s reading, we heard Jesus tell Paul that he would go to Rome. What we discover in today’s reading is that Paul had to take responsibility, at one level, for making this happen.

We learn something about the interaction of God’s purposes and our prayers. Sometimes when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God will act, but God will do so through our taking responsibility. We don’t know that in advance. That comes through prayer. God’s purposes and prayer interact and bring us to the point where we must take responsibility.

What these chapters show are not a series of trials but a preparation (a working out of God’s purposes) for the greater trial yet to come. To Caesar, Paul will go.

Today’s readings: Job 17; Acts 24-26