Be Still And Know

Acts 15.37-39 NLT 'Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated.' This is a painful moment, but I’m so glad that Dr Luke recorded it. I am sure that he could quite easily have airbrushed it out of the story, but he didn’t. Paul and Barnabas fell out over taking John Mark on the next missionary journey. It’s impossible for us to know exactly the reason for this, although we do know that Paul was disappointed by the way that John Mark had deserted them on the first missionary journey. Because we know that Barnabas was a great encourager, it is easy to presume that he was all for giving John Mark a second chance. But these things happened a long time ago and there may well have been other factors of which we know nothing. The fact remains that they split up. Splits are never easy. Even when there is a speedy recovery, the pain of separ