Acts 23:10-11 :

When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.

The following night, the Lord stood by him, and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.”

I would guess that Paul was pretty exhausted by now. He may also have been thinking that he shouldn’t have said some of the things he said to the high priest. Perhaps, Satan was able to get Paul to start to drift into despair. Maybe he was thinking that God wasn’t with him and that he should have listened to Luke and the others.

To add to that, we know that Paul desperately loved his fellow Jews. To be so completely rejected by them may have been overwhelming to him.

Then Jesus appeared to Paul and told him that he was doing a good job and that he was going to be promoted. That’s the way Jesus is. He is always there to counteract the accusations that falsely come against us. Jesus loved Paul and was happy that He was making His resurrection known. Even if the people were wild and completely out of control, Paul was still speaking the truth to them and he was still doing good work for the Lord.

Now Paul knew that he had more good work to do. Jesus gives a person hope when they are in despair. That is one of the many reasons it is so wonderful to be a Christian.