Empowered by the Holy Spirit: Lessons from Stephen’s Wisdom

As I explore the book of Acts, the theme of the Holy Spirit acting in the lives of Christians is quite prevalent.

A Memory Verse

In Acts 6, a man named Stephen is performing miracles and signs in the name of Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders get upset, but as they try to argue with him, the Holy Spirit gives Stephen so much wisdom that arguments to the contrary look foolish.

They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
Acts 6:10 (WEB)

Read: More blog posts about Acts 6.

The 7th chapter of Acts covers Stephen’s defense, but rather than listening to reason, the people cover their ears, rush at him and start stoning him!

But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Acts 7:57-58a (WEB)

This is quite shocking! When we follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, isn’t everything supposed to turn out with a positive result? Apparently not! As we consider how we interact with non-Christians, there are many lessons that we can learn from this story.

First, we should pray that the Holy Spirit will give us words of wisdom and that we will have the courage to speak them. When this happens, it can be quite hard for our opponents to make sensible counterarguments. Sometimes when Christians argue their points without the Holy Spirit, they end up looking quite ridiculous, but we can take hope from Stephen’s story that this does not have to be the norm.

Second, we need to pray that the Holy Spirit will open the hearts and minds of our listeners. The sad fact is that no matter how well an argument is presented, sometimes the other side is not ready to hear it. In this case, the crowd could find no other response than to stone Stephen. Their words were inferior and their only goal was to stop Stephen from speaking. This is quite frightening! Even with the Holy Spirit’s help, really bad things can still happen!

Third, we need to pray that we will have the strength to endure whatever consequences happen as a result of the Holy Spirit’s prompting. As we have seen throughout the book of Acts, the results of speaking through the Holy Spirit are quite varied. In many cases, thousands of people are converted to Christianity. On the other hand, there are also many beatings, stonings, imprisionments, and more. The question is whether we believe in the Gospel message enough to endure these possible outcomes.

As I go out into life, I pray that I will find joy in experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit and that I won’t fear whatever follows. I take heart in the fact that Stephen stayed true to his faith and endured!

Read: More blog posts about Acts 6.

Reflection Questions

Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit giving you wisdom? Did you go with it, or did you resist? What was the result?
How do you feel about the negative consequences that Stephen suffered? Are you willing to risk this type of outcome if the Holy Spirit asks you to take a risk?
How can you prepare yourself to accept both the guidance of the Holy Spirit and whatever good or bad result that follows?

Reflective Prayer

Use this memory verse to pray using the ACTS method: Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness, Supplication

Adoration: Praise God. Does this verse bring any specific characteristics of God to mind?
Confession: Tell God that you are sorry for specific sins. Does this verse bring any specific sins to mind?
Thankfulness: Show gratitude towards God. Does anything from this verse inspire gratitude?
Supplication: Make requests for yourself and for others. Does anything from this verse inspire a prayer?

If helpful, you can use a prayer journal template.

Respond

As you consider the theme of receiving the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, are there any Bible verses that came to mind? If so, add a comment at the end of this post!