Paul Harvey Written Stories

Divine Guidance Through Circumstances

Yesterday, I showed how Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit guides the people of God. As I continue my series on divine guidance, I’m beginning with this post to address specific ways we are guided by the Spirit of God. Today I begin by noting how the Spirit guides through circumstances.

Consider, for example, the following story.

In Acts, 16 the Apostle Paul and his colleague Silas were in Philippi, where they shared the good news of Jesus with a man and his family (Acts 16:16-34). The whole household believed the message and all members were immediately baptized. How did Paul and Silas get to the home of this man and his family? Not through inner spiritual guidance, that’s for sure. Not through dreams or angelic visions. Not through biblical interpretation. Rather, they got there through circumstances, rather odd circumstances at that. The man was a jailer who had been assigned to guard two prisoners, Paul and Silas.

The two missionaries got in trouble with the authorities when they cast an evil spirit out of a girl who had been used to make money for her opportunistic masters. Her spiritual freedom took away their source of income, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and accused them before the civic leaders of Philippi: “They are teaching the people to do things that are against Roman customs.” The officials had the Christians beaten and thrown into prison, where they met the jailer, who had no idea what was about to happen to him and his family.

Around midnight, when the two prisoners should have been licking their wounds and bemoaning their fate, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God. All of a sudden, a great earthquake shook the prison, knocking the chains off the prisoners. The poor jailer, supposing that his prisoners had escaped, was about to fall on his sword when Paul shouted: “Don’t do it! We are all here!” In shock, the jailer fell instead at the feet of the missionaries. He then took them to his home, where they proceeded to convert him and his entire family.

Given the whole tenor of Acts of the Apostles, we are surely meant to believe that the visit of Paul and Silas to the jailer’s home was no mere coincidence. Though not identified explicitly in this passage, the Holy Spirit was directing the action of Acts 16, just as the Spirit oversaw the mission of Christ throughout Acts. The Spirit got Paul and Silas into the jailer’s home by manipulating circumstances, some of which were obviously miraculous, others of which appeared on the surface to be both ordinary and distressing.

Former Publisher Seeking Lemonade Stories—Writers Receive $250.00 ...

Lake Oswego, OR (PRWEB) April 5, 2011

The former owner of Multnomah Publishers is on a mission to collect “lemonade” stories, a play on the old saying “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”—or, as Don puts it, “Lemonade happens!” By his definition, lemonade stories are real-life stories about when life takes a sour twist but is followed with a sweet surprise. To borrow the words of Paul Harvey, a lemonade story tells the rest of the story.

Through personal experience, Don knows a little something about lemonade himself; “The Gunshot Wound That Saved My Life” is Don’s true lemonade story. In November 1980, after suffering a near-fatal gunshot wound in his side, he lay in the bitter cold for eleven hours before anyone found him. Miracle upon miracle saved Don’s life that day—from the friends who were led to search for him, to the fog that lifted at just the right time for a helicopter transport, to an on-call doctor who specialized in treating his type of injury. After spending nine days in critical condition and nearly a month in rehab, Don left the hospital a discouraged man, no longer able to physically provide for his family. But his story wasn’t over. God used the accident to get Don’s attention in a big way, and it would change the course of his life.

Don’s new project, “God Makes Lemonade™”, was born of his realization that everyone has a lemonade story. Some are more dramatic than others, but each has the power to transform lives. The book-in-process is aimed at collecting real-life lemonade stories through an interactive website and Facebook page. Readers can visit God Makes Lemonade to submit their account of a difficult circumstance and the lemonade that came from it. “God Makes Lemonade™” is due for release September 2011.

Don Jacobson has always loved interacting with authors and developing creative book ideas. As owner and president of Multnomah Publishers for 14 years, he worked with hundreds of authors and oversaw the production of 1,000+ book titles. When he sold Multnomah to Random House in 2006, Don founded an author management company called D.C. Jacobson & Associates. He continues to work closely with authors, together dreaming about books that will change the world by changing the Church. That passion is the heartbeat of Don’s professional life as he leads DCJA. Don and his wife, Brenda, live in Bend, Oregon, and enjoy spending time with their family.

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