what went wrong?

this is a question that i believe we have all asked in our lives at some point. you may have picked up on me wrestling with a form of this question a few times throughout this adoption journey. i had an amazing moment of clarity just yesterday when a couple of great friends and teachers forced a group of us to answer this very question in regards to the life of Stephen [first martyr]. i will try to share what i learned here but know that my words don't always best articulate what i am thinking.

text this comes from Acts 6.1-Acts 8.3 [worth the study time]

key verses that lead to the question at hand:

Acts 6.3 - therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom...

Acts 6.5 - they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit

Acts 6.8 - and Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 6.10 - but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Acts 6.15 - and gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Acts 7.55 - but he, full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7.59-60 - and as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

WOW! so what went wrong? all we read shows the he was a man with great repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom. answer - NOTHING!

i doubt that i will ever know God as intimately as Stephen did. he understood and lived the text from Philippines 3.10-11 - I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

the goal isn't for everything to go right - the goal is to know Christ and explain his story to anyone we can and sometimes that may mean going against the grain.