In the great cosmic conflict for the souls of men, every effort for Christ is met by the fierce resistance of evil. Such was the case in Ephesus along Paul’s 3rd missionary journey.
Clearly God was doing a great and powerful work among the church in Ephesus. Revival had broken out early in Paul’s ministry there “so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks (20:10), and the word of God grew mightily and prevailed (20:20).
These verses show us that there are things we should expect when we are on mission for Christ.
We should expect
-- hard work
-- resistance from the enemy
-- a battle with complacency
