Hope for the Brokenhearted - Pt 2

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. (Acts 18:1-3 ESV).

From the first three verses of our reading we began with yesterday in this series we see the foundational principle: God gives Paul companionship with like-minded people. He meets Aquila and Priscilla. “Coincidentally”, they’re tentmakers by vocation too. Do you see how beautiful this is? Aquila and Priscilla had been kicked out of Rome along with all the other Jews…because as Suetonias in his chronicle Claudius tells us, this expulsion order was given because of the Jews and the “continual tumults instigated by the Chrestus [the Christ].” In other words, trouble wasn’t just following Paul. It had followed all the Jews who went home from Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit—all the way to Rome—and Jew and Christian alike were booted out of Rome because of all the trouble. Jesus didn’t come to bring peace but a sword because the Truth Cuts Both Ways! It divides and makes trouble for followers of Christ. It did for Aquila and Priscilla. And they had common ground with Paul. Paul found hope in his broken heart in companionship with like-minded people. The picture I have included with today’s devotional is one that was spontaneously taken when these two year olds were visiting the zoo with their moms. Even at this early age they understood the comfort and assurance that comes from companionship. The basic relational needs of all people are all the things that we cannot provide ourselves, and we rely on others to help provide them for us. Many psychoanalysts have called them "dependency needs." That seems negative at first hearing; however, when we understand the healthy ways to provide for this need we see it no more negative than other dependency needs like food or water. When we are first born into the world, almost every need except for oxygen is a dependency need. An infant is dependent on caregivers for food, comfort, care, and other basic needs. As we get older, these needs change because we learn to provide some of these things for ourselves. However, as adults, there is still a universal set of relational needs that remain. One of those is companionship. As Christians we have an incredible means to provide for this need through the community of faith. This is precisely what Paul did. He found Aquila and Priscilla. Perhaps you have become brokenhearted through the circumstances of life. It may be that you have given up in finding someone to walk through life with, sharing the desires of your heart. I would suggest that you look for someone you can share a small part of your life with and build companionship through the shared work. It begins the healing of your heart.