NOTES for Act 11:21-26

Barnabas goes to Antioch as an “authorized representative” of the apostles. Yet his aim is not to uncover some wrongdoing: he simply comes, not to inspect, but to meet with the brothers—and that is all. When he arrives, he sees the grace of God. How often do we see grace when we arrive somewhere? Rarely? And why? Perhaps it is simply because we neither seek nor hope to see it. Perhaps, if we look for the Lord’s action, we will see it more often—and problems and shortcomings will prove nowhere near as important as they may seem.