“You must testify also in Rome.” That’s what God told Paul in verse 11, but how in the world could that possibly happen? The chief priests and elders wanted to kill him, and a group of assassins had volunteered to do just that (23:15). So great was their hatred of Paul that they vowed to each other they wouldn’t either eat or drink until he was dead (23:12) – and that meant they planned to do something quickly.

And remember, Paul had been arrested by the Roman tribune and was being held on suspicion of somehow causing or inciting a riot. How in the world could he possibly start on a mission trip to Rome while he was being held in custody? And how could he hope to get out of the city of Jerusalem alive?

Maybe some of God’s directions to you seem to be just as impossible: how can I really love my enemies? How can I keep praying for and reaching out to those who show no interest in a relationship with me, or with God for that matter? How can I maintain my own faith in the face of sickness or grief, joblessness or depression, addiction or temptation?

Well, how did God make it possible for Paul to go to Rome? He made sure that Paul’s nephew would just happen to overhear the assassins’ plots (23:16). He made sure that the Roman tribune would listen to this Jewish boy and take his words seriously (23:17-21). In fact, God used the very Roman soldiers who had arrested and imprisoned Paul to provide him an armed escort through the midst of his Jewish enemies, taking him all the way to the coast at Caesarea (23:23-24, 31-33), and eventually all the way to Rome.

And God is still able to use all the circumstances of our lives to protect us and to provide for us and to make it possible for us to accomplish His will. He can always make a way for us to accomplish His will, even where there seems to be no way.

Acts 23:11-35 (ESV)

11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.
14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.
15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.”
18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”
19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.
21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”
22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.
24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council.
29 I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.
30 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him.
33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.
34 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia,
35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.