The right place is the place of growth. Paul grows in Arabia and in the prison at Rome. In the one he was a prisoner, in the other he had liberty enough. In the desert there was nothing around to interfere with or intrude upon him, but it was a desert; and the only thing to attract was the vision of Heaven, and this he sees-he is caught up to the third Heaven.
In Rome, on the contrary, there was everything to try and distress him; the prison, the chain, the din and, evil of the world. All this was around him, but this was the right soil and climate for him at the time, in the mind of God; just as much so as Arabia had been before. In Arabia he sees the third Heaven, he gets rooted there. In Rome he dwells in Heaven, the virtue of the roots is developed in the leaves and fruit; he writes there the Epistles to the Ephesians.
The great hindrance or obstacle to true testimony is that the roots are not strong enough, or nourished enough. The root is the great thing to be acquired, and this is acquired in the desert where there is no one but Christ. If there were only good soil, the root would soon be strong, and able to bear an external growth, and root and fruit would keep pace together. But the impure soil, the worm, the snail, the creeping thing, too often damage the root. There is not sufficient isolation with the Lord only where we are rooted; and hence there is not power to dwell in Heaven in spirit when we are in the midst of the great city of this world, where every power is against us, and seeks to keep us in prison; but the word of God is not bound. What your heart really learns and enjoys in Arabia, your life and ways will not only tell of in Rome; but that which was only a vision, an introduction to you there, now becomes your resource an dwelling place. It ruled the day for you in the desert, and in the night its true and full virtue is known to you, and you become the witness of it. J. B. S.