24But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.25But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you."26At the same time too, he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and converse with him. 27But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.
The Religious Jewish leaders ganged up on Paul not only in numbers of accusers but they brought their lawyer to present their trumped up charges. Paul, the prisoner, was alone as far as we can tell. There have been a couple of times I have been in situations where people used their power and influence to their advantage against my family. Once we had to go to court and the other time before city hall. Both situations were blown out of proportion and the other parties used their considerable influence against us. The feelings I felt ranged from surprise, to amazement, to humiliation, to anger, to outrage. With every feeling, I ran to God and exchanged it for God's forgiveness, compassion, love, joy and peace. I prayed that when I saw the people involved that I could greet them with love and compassion and not anger. And God did that through me! It was amazing grace!!!
God's amazing grace was available to Paul in his unfair imprisonment and is still available to us today because of Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Even as Paul went through his situations, he was keenly aware that it was God's plan so that he could be a witness for Christ before others. Likewise, in my situations, I was acutely aware that God had placed me in these two particular situations and that I could either go through them in my nasty self righteous flesh or by the power of His Spirit. The people who watched me go through these things by his grace weren't as high profile as Paul's witnesses, but I know people were watching and that they saw the power of Jesus in me. And indeed, my faith grew as I watched God do the impossible in me.
Walking by grace in difficult circumstances is an amazing opportunity and gift from God. These deep waters of life give us credibility and believability as we live them in God's wisdom and strength and then tell others about Jesus. Jesus is worth the cost of bearing up by grace in difficult things.