Acts 20:11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

Paul was preaching in Troas. It was the last day before he was to leave and he preached late into the night. A young man named Eutychus fell asleep and fell out the window. Paul went down and informed everyone that they were not to trouble themselves because the boy was not dead but that there was still life in him.

Apparently, Paul left the boy lying on the ground and went upstairs and broke bread and exhorted everyone until the morning. We are told in the next verse that they then brought the boy up alive. It appears that when Paul went upstairs to eat, he proclaimed that the child was alive, but the boy was not up and about. Eutychus may not have shown signs of life until the next morning when Paul was leaving.

Do you have the patience of Paul? Paul did not see the signs of life that he was telling everyone was going on. Paul prayed and then he went upstairs and had dinner. Can you imagine how upset the parents of Eutychus would have been? Here their son is dead and the great Paul said he will live and rather than praying for their son, Paul is upstairs eating and talking.

Paul understood that God had already answered his prayer and there was no need for him to toil all night in prayer. God had given him limited time to minister unto the people of Troas and all the prayers in the world would not cause Eutychus to be raised any sooner. God was going to raise Eutychus when God was ready. Paul knew what the will of God was and he moved onto the next thing God had for him which was exhorting the brethren for the remaining few hours.

When God speaks to us and tells us that he is going to answer our prayers, we need to listen. We need to act upon our faith and believe that God does not lie and that HE will fulfill HIS perfect will in HIS perfect timing. If God has promised us a response to our prayers, we need to praise God and move on. We may have to be patient as we wait for God to fulfill HIS promise but we know that we will one day see the fulfillment of HIS will.

Too often we insist on being persistent in prayer even though God has already given us an answer to our prayers. God may have said yes but wait and we continue to pray trying to receive the desire of our heart. Paul is an excellent example to us in how we are to learn to wait on the Lord and trust in HIM with all our heart.

Until we learn to be patient and allow God to have HIS perfect plan for our life, we will never be ready to serve HIM. We think we are being so spiritual for praying every day for the desires of our heart but maybe we are showing our spiritual immaturity because we have failed to serve God today because we are so busy praying for tomorrow.

A farmer who tries to harvest his corn when the stalks of corn are only four feet tall will quickly discover that the corn was not ready for harvest. The entire benefit of the harvest will be lost because he was trying to do today what was not due to happen until later on in the season. A farmer knows to be patient and wait for the corn to be ripe, so also we need to be patient and allow God to prepare HIS perfect timing for the fulfillment of our prayers. Just as the farmer prepares for the harvest, so also we should prepare for the day that God answers our prayers. Start focusing on today and what God has for you today and let tomorrow worry about itself.

Acts 20:9 And there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

Paul was in Troas where he stayed for seven days. The day before Paul was to leave, it was the first day of the week and the disciples in Troas determined that they would break bread with Paul. Paul was only going to be with these disciples in Troas for a short period of time so he took his time to preach to the believers to encourage them to do that which is right in the eyes of God.

Eutychus was a young man who was listening to Paul. Young men have the ability to stay up really late in order to do things that they want to do. However, Eutychus allowed himself to fall asleep which is a strong indication that he did not put much value into what Paul was preaching. This young man may have come with his parents and he may have much rather been playing in the street then listening to the preacher.

Eutychus allowed the things of this world to be more important to him then the things of God. If Eutychus had placed great importance upon the things of God, then he would have forced himself to stay awake to hear the words of Paul. Instead of listening to Paul, Eutychus allowed his mind to wonder as he contemplated all the things he could be doing instead.

How often are we like Eutychus? We love the things of this world so much that we focus our attention upon them that we give God very little time. We know that we should read our Bible daily. We know that we should spend time in prayer. We know that we should set aside time to draw closer to God and allow our relationship with HIM to grow. However, just because we know what we are supposed to do, it does not mean that we do it.

It is easy to find things to take our minds off of the things of God. Maybe it is a sporting event that we would rather watch then to spend a couple hours alone with God. Maybe we allow our job to take our focus off of God. Maybe we allow our family to distract our attention and cause us to spend less time with God. Whatever our excuse is, God is faithful to forgive us and enable us to return back to him. God gave Eutychus a second chance when Paul went down and raised Eutychus from the dead. God will forgive us when we allow the things of this world to distract us from remaining faithful to HIM.

It takes great patience to say no to the things of this world and yes to the things of God. God desires to do great things through us, but we need to start putting the things of God first in our lives. Paul was willing to forgo sleep and stay up late preaching the gospel. We should follow the example of Paul and be willing to put the things of God first in our lives.

The next time you come home late and you want to go straight to bed, stop and open the Bible and give God some of your time. It does not matter how tired you are, spend a few minutes with God so that HE might direct your paths. You never know, but God might just use these few minutes before you go to sleep to speak with you about what HE has in store for you next.

Do not allow the things of this world to come between you and God. The world will always try to squeeze your time but you must remain faithful and you must set aside the time necessary so that God remains first in your life. Until you make the sacrifices to put God first, why should you expect God to open the windows of heaven and bless you?

Acts 20:9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

Paul was visiting the city of Troas on his way to Jerusalem. Paul was only in Troas for a week. The day before Paul was to leave Troas, Paul preached late into the night. Paul had much to share with the Christians in Troas and he thus was redeeming the limited time that he had.

Eutychus was a young man who was in attendance. Eutychus ended up falling asleep while Paul was preaching. Because of the precarious position that he placed himself in, when he fell asleep, he ended up falling out a window to his death.

The problem with Eutychus was that his sleep was more important to him then the things of God. Yes he was there to hear Paul, but when he grew tired, he chose to allow himself to fall into a deep sleep rather than do what he could to ensure that he stay awake.

There is a time and a place for everything. There is a time to sleep, but there is a time to persevere and pursue the things of God. Paul was only in this town for a limited time, and if Eutychus really had his heart in the right place, he would not have placed himself in a position to fall asleep.

While we may never have the opportunity to hear Paul preach, we are often faced with the difficultly of staying awake to pray and read our Bible late at night before going to bed. When was the last time that you kneeled down to pray before going to bed and found yourself an hour later waking up in that same kneeling position. We did not persevere in pursuing the perfect will of God. We allowed the things of this world to become more important to us than our relationship with God.

While some might argue that it is good that the last thing going through your mind was talking with God before you fell asleep, the problem actually is that you were not strong enough to keep awake to finish your conversation with God. The things of God should be so important to you that you will do whatever it takes to ensure that your relationship with God grows.

Temperance is necessary part of the life of a Christian. It is understanding that by the grace of God, you can have strength over the things of this world so that God through you might be magnified. As you build discipline in your life and say no to the things of this world, your relationship with God will grow.

On a scale of one to ten, how close do you think your relationship with God is? Are you like young Eutychus who allowed himself to fall asleep when he should have been concerned about the things of God? Are you like Paul who understood that there was so much spiritual truth that he had to share with this community that he sacrificed his own sleep so that this church might grow closer to God.

If you find yourself falling asleep when you are supposed to be pursuing the things of God, you need to reevaluate your priorities. Do not wait until you are about to fall asleep before you pursue the things of God. Switch up your priorities so you give yourself plenty of time to pursue the things of God during hours where you are wide awake.

Acts 20:10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

Paul was in Troas for only a short period of time. As such, he made the most of his time there by preaching until midnight. Paul took the limited time that he had and was trying to give to the Christians at Troas as much teaching as he possibly could give. While Paul was preaching, a young man named Eutychus fell from the third loft. When the people reached him, they found Eutychus dead. However, when Paul reached him, he stated that the man was still alive.

Apparently, after proclaiming that this man was alive, Paul went to eat with the Christians before continuing to teach to them the ways of God. It appears that several hours later as he is about to leave, the Christians in Troas brought Eutychus back to Paul and he was alive.

Paul could have spent his time continually praying for Eutychus that he would be raised from the dead right that second. However, Paul understood that it was the will of God for him to feed the lambs. The fact that we do not see Paul earnestly praying for Eutychus is indication that God showed Paul what was going to happen and Paul simply believed and pursued the things of God. However, because Paul did not spend much time with Eutychus, God was the one who received the glory for the young man being raised from the dead. Had Paul prayed long, it would have made it easier for the believers to sing the praises of Paul and not of God.

Paul could have stopped the evenings activities right then and there and started a prayer meeting to teach the Christians of Troas the power of prayer. Paul knew that the young man was going to live, so what better opportunity to teach others how to pray since he knew that their prayers were going to be answered. However, God had given Paul other things to teach the Christians of Troas so Paul spent his time drawing the attention of the believers to those things.

What would you have done if you were in the position of Paul? Would you have been long in praying for Eutychus or would you have believed God that the young man would be healed and gone on to share what God had placed on your heart to share? Too many of us would have allowed the present crisis to distract us from the perfect will of God. It takes great spiritual discipline to remain focused upon the will of God and continue to do it. Satan is going to try to distract you from doing the will of God by brining excellent ministry options that are not the will of God. It is your duty to understand what God desires you to do, and do it.

Paul spent a lot of time with God and thus he understood the will of God for his life. The further away from God you are, the easier it will be for you to be distracted because of how unclear you will be as to what God desires you to do. You need to draw close unto God so that you can hear HIS still small voice. When you hear God, it will make it easier for you to do the right thing. When you hear God, your focus can be concentrated upon those things that are pleasing to God.

You must diligently add to your life knowledge of the ways of God. If you do not understand what God desires you to do, than you will find yourself making mistakes that you did not need to make. You are accountable to God for the decisions that you make. Would you rather face God having done HIS perfect will or would you like to face HIM having done that which is right in your own eyes. It takes time to learn and understand the will of God. However, it is time well spent since it will help guide you in the way that you are to go.

Acts 20:9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and as taken up dead.

Paul was in Troas preaching the gospel to the believers. Paul was only in Troas for seven days and as such, this was the only Sabbath that he was going to be able to teach. Paul had much to share with the believers and as such, he preached long into the night.

Eutychus was a young man who attended the meeting Paul preached. However Eutychus, while a believer was not devouring every word shared by Paul. Rather then seeing how close he could be to Paul, Eutychus found a comfortable spot in the back sitting by a window. Sitting by a window gave Eutychus plenty of distractions from hearing all the words of Paul. In addition, because of his position, he was able to fall asleep with less chance of being detected.

Eutychus made an appearance to hear the preaching of Paul but when Paul began to go long, Eutychus revealed that his heart was not into the truth Paul was preaching but was instead focusing upon his own needs and desires. From the position that he took, sitting in the window to his allowing himself to fall asleep during the preaching, Eutychus demonstrated that the things of this world were more important to him then hearing the truth of God’s word.

Eutychus was like many believers today; the people in the church were meeting so he was there. However, while his appearance was proper, Eutychus was lacking in having a personal relationship with God that caused him to desire the things of God. Eutychus was not taking any extra steps to draw closer to the truth that Paul was preaching. Unlike Mary striving to sit at the feet of Jesus or the little children who desired to be close to Jesus, Eutychus was sitting in a window, apparently as far from Paul as he could have been. Eutychus was not going to allow Paul’s preaching to cut into his sleep. Yes this was a one time occurrence where Paul was in town preaching, but Eutychus’ personal comforts were more important to him.

If Eutychus had been seeking to add virtue to his life, he would have been thinking upon those things that are true, honest and just. He would have been thinking upon those things that are praiseworthy like the testimony Paul was probably sharing about how the Lord had directed him throughout his life. Virtue would have given him the power and strength to overcome the temptation to sleep and instead draw closer to the truth. If Eutychus was seeking virtue, his mind would not be upon resting and sleeping but would have been upon carefully listening to every word Paul said that night. Virtue would have changed Eutychus’ thoughts, his feelings and his actions.

Your actions will eventually reveal where your mind really desires to be. Do you desire to think upon the things of God or is your desire upon the things of this world. Christ was very clear that you cannot have two masters, you must either serve the world or you must serve God. If you serve God, then you must be a profitable servant and you must add to your faith virtue. You must take the time to set your thoughts upon the things of God. You must allow your actions to demonstrate that the things of God are your top priority.

Acts 20:10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him.

This was Paul’s last day in Troas and the disciples joined together for the breaking of bread. Paul preached until midnight when Eutychus fell asleep and fell out of the window to his death. Paul informed everyone that Eutychus was alive and then Paul and the others went and enjoyed each other’s company until the sun came up. It was about this time that Paul left and they brought Eutychus before everyone so that they could see he was alive.

Paul did not doubt that Eutychus was raised from the dead even though it appears he did not waken for at least six hours. Paul had pronounced that this young man was alive and as such, it was time to have final fellowship with these Christians. This was probably the last time he would see most of them, and it was important for him to exhort them in the faith. This was not the time for Paul to be conducting an all night prayer meeting asking God to do something that Paul already knew that God was going to do.

Paul knew what God desired to do so he went on and did what he was called to do, exhort the Christians to follow Christ. Paul did not allow this disaster to distract him from redeeming the limited time that he had. Paul had healed the man and it was not time for a lesson in continual prayer. Paul understood his priorities and he did not allow anything to distract him from that purpose.

Satan loves to bring obstacles into our life to distract us from our purpose. Sometimes these distractions can have the appearance of holiness. However, if you take the time to concentrate on the distraction, then you will lose a valuable opportunity to effectively use your time for the fullness of God’s purpose. Paul had the opportunity to pray fervently for six plus hours to demonstrate to the disciples that God does answer fervent prayer. But had he prayed for six hours, the disciples would not have received six hours of exhortation. The disciples did see the boy alive again, and thus they saw that God answers very difficult prayers without one being long in prayer.

God is not deaf, HE knows your needs long before HE ever created the world. God knew that Eutychus needed to be healed and Paul understood that it was God’s will for Eutychus to be alive. God has heard your prayers. If HE has told you that HE will answer them, then maybe it is important that you spend some time fulfilling HIS purpose for your life and to give HIM the time to answer your prayer in HIS timing. There is no reason for you to get all uptight and worried about what God is going to do and when HE is going to do it. If God has said it, believe it and proceed to praise God and follow HIM.

It takes more faith to believe God heard you with one simple prayer then it takes if you toil all night in your prayer. There is something about your human nature that feels you must earn God’s answer to your prayer by earnest prayer. By faith, you will let God hear your request and then you will thank HIM for the answer that HE is bringing. You will demonstrate your faith not by the earnestness of your prayers but by your simple quiet obedience to HIM. Learn to obey HIM even in your great distress. God desires to magnify HIS name through you. You do not earn God favor by your works, it is by your faith that you please HIM and allow HIM to demonstrate HIS power through you.