Paul’s post-conversion ministry and missionary travels.
As mentioned earlier, the New Testament book of Galatians tell us that Paul first preached his new-found faith in Arabia, the large peninsula between the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Having preached there, he subsequently made his way back to Damascus. After three years in Damascus, he traveled to the city of Jerusalem, and then returned to his hometown of Tarsus.
There, he was met by a man named Barnabas who enlisted Paul’s help in ministering to the growing church at Antioch. After a trip back to Judea to aid in famine relief, the Spirit of God directed Paul to an itinerant preaching and teaching ministry. From A.D. 46 to A.D. 62, Paul was almost continually on the road, traveling by boat and by foot, preaching the gospel and establishing churches. Paul made four major missionary journeys during this period that are chronicled in the Biblical book of Acts.
While all that travel and activity might sound exciting, the reality was far less glamorous than it might seem. In addressing his concerns regarding the false apostles who had worked their way into the Corinthian church, Paul offered the following insight into his life as an ambassador of Christ…
“Are they ministers of Christ?–I speak as a fool–I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness–besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity” (2 Corinthians 11:23-30 NLT).
With these things in mind, Paul’s request of the Galatian churches takes on added significance…
“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17).
Image Attribution: Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons