Dear Loved One,
There’s a hilarious story in the Bible that reveals more about human nature than we’d like to admit. It’s about a group of men called the seven sons of Sceva. Their father was a Jewish chief priest, and apparently the boys had discovered a new side hustle: travelling around casting out demons.
Now, to be fair, they had seen Apostle Paul do it successfully. So one day, they found a demon-possessed man and decided to try the formula themselves.
They walked in confidently and said: “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, come out!”
Which is already funny if you think about it.
Not “the Jesus we know.” Not “the Jesus we follow.” But “the Jesus Paul talks about.”
Secondhand conviction.
And the demon responded with one of the coldest lines in Scripture:
“Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you?” (Acts 19:15)
What happened next was worse.
The possessed man jumped on them, beat all seven of them up, and they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
Imagine them narrating what happened when they get home. 😂
But beneath the humour is a truth most of us quietly relate to.
We admire things we are not always willing to prepare for. We see the visible result and quietly wish we could carry the same weight. But we often forget that visible things are usually built in invisible places.
Paul’s authority did not begin in public. It was built through years of obscurity, discipline, suffering, conviction, prayer, and consistency. The sons of Sceva wanted the outcome. But the moment of confrontation exposed the absence of the process behind it.
The real victory is not just achieving the result.
It is becoming the person capable of carrying it.
Shalom,
Ayo Daniels
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