We’ve been looking in our biographical study of the life of Paul at how God used a variety of people to bring Paul to trust in Jesus Christ and grow in his relationship with Him. Back in Jerusalem Acts 9:28 says, Paul “stayed with them and moved about freely…speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.” This didn’t last long before some Grecian Jews plotted to kill him. “When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.” Here again he spent 5-6 years.
John Pollock writes in his Book, The Apostle, the life of Paul, “The best years of Paul’s life were slipping away between the Taurus Mountains and the sea. It was harder to bear because he cared so deeply that all men everywhere should hear and believe, yet during his later thirties and into the early forties when a man approaches his prime, Paul drops out of history.”
I can’t see Paul sitting still doing nothing. No doubt he worked as a tentmaker, but I believe he shared the Gospel whenever he had opportunity. There’s no indication he was discouraged or depressed. He was just waiting in the waiting room. Meanwhile God was doing a mighty work in Antioch, so much so, that Barnabas was feeling overworked. He remembered Paul’s enthusiasm for God, so he left his work in Antioch and went searching for Paul in Tarsus. When he found him he recruited him. Together they taught the church in Antioch with great results.
Be willing to wait patiently for God’s appointed time. Then make the most of opportunities He opens up for you.