“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.”
(Acts 17:16)
The secret sauce to Paul’s evangelism is found in this verse. When Paul went to Athens, he was just planning to wait for Timothy and Silas to join him. He tried just waiting, but he couldn’t. He was provoked by the idolatry in that city.
The lies and deception of Satan he saw bothered him, and he couldn’t remain silent. To ‘provoke’ means to irritate, stimulate, make angry, or exasperate. The pure evil he saw within the city of Athens irritated, angered, exasperated, and stimulated Paul to action. A whole city deceived by Satan? Not on Paul’s watch.
We won’t shine our lights until we are bothered by the darkness.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites