Recently I had lunch at a restaurant downtown, and on the lawn outside the restaurant were

thousands of solid purple flags – a beautiful and dramatic visual. I didn’t know what they

represented until I left the restaurant and noticed a sign saying each flag represented 1 of over

12,000 lives lost to drug overdoses in our area from 2017 until now – 12,000+ lives cut short,

12,000+ families with broken hearts and shattered dreams. Something inside me hurt terribly -- I

was infuriated! That should not be happening!

In Acts 17, we read of a time when the apostle Paul’s insides hurt too – one translation puts it

this way: his soul was exasperated beyond endurance (Acts 17:16 Phillips). Paul was in

Athens, Greece waiting for his friends to join him – so he took some time to walk around the city

and make some observations. And what he observed was troubling.

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he

saw that the city was full of idols. (Acts 17:16)

Athens was the cultural center of Greece – home to renowned philosophers such as Socrates,

Plato, and Aristotle. It was also considered the religious center of Greece. John MacArthur

notes that “virtually every deity known to man could be worshiped there.” Actually, there were so

many gods in Athens that it was said to be easier to find a god than to find a man. As Paul

observed, the city was full of idols. That should not be happening!

What distressed Paul to his very core was the fact this beautiful city full of richness and

possibility yet teeming with idols in every direction was to him a glaring visual of lost humanity.

Animal sacrifices were offered at the various temples. At one time, it was said that if an animal

died and was not near any of the temples, that animal was considered a sacrifice to “The

Unknown God.” And that gave Paul an idea and a game plan for his next move.

Our beautiful country is also full of richness and possibility – yet teeming with ungodly language,

behaviors, and priorities. And unless something changes, it too will be a visual of lost humanity.

Do you have an idea or a game plan to do something about it? Pray over this verse and

perhaps you’ll see that God has a plan that will heal our land – but it requires something of you:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My

face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their

sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).



By Judy Shrout