Acts 25:25 - I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome.
I used to think that Paul made a mistake in appealing to Caesar since clearly Festus and others didn't think he had done anything to deserve death and probably would have released him. But then I realized that it was actually God's plan for Paul. In Acts 23:11, Jesus visited Paul in prison personally and spoke to Paul and told him that he wanted him to testify in Rome: Acts 23:11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage!As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
That is actually quite a dramatic scene but it is so easy to pass over because it is only one verse. Jesus actually visited Paul in prison - it appears in bodily form, not a vision! In this situation though the natural inclination would be to get out of jail as soon as possible. Paul ends up staying in jail a long time and then basically requests longer so that he can go to Rome. It would have been a much more difficult decision to do that unless Jesus so clearly spoke to him.
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