from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church http://bit.ly/2VY9jFD
via IFTTT The spirit of God forbade them to go into Asia. Why? The apostles were on a great missionary journey to spread the good news around the world. The great commission! Why not Asia? Is there some grand reason that God forsook Asia? No. It turns out... God was answering a prayer. In the next verses, Paul sees a vision of a man crying out for help. God redirected them because there was an urgent need, somewhere else. There is a deep lesson here. God is in charge of His church and the actions of the church, always. We make plans. Long term plans. Set on a vision given by God. Good things, worthy things. Truly hearing from heaven we embark out to succeed. But... We must always remember we are not in charge. This is God's work, not ours. We have no right to decide where we go or what we do. it is not our strategy. Or is it? Have you ever chosen a path in life and then worked feverishly to accomplish a goal down that path? Have you fought against opposition to make your goal come about? Sounds commendable, but we must be careful. At any point we could be redirected, the goal could be postponed or cancelled by God working through current events. Are we listening enough to hear? Are we willing to follow? Or shall we forget ahead on our own, forcing what we think to be right to happen? Here the missionaries had the right goal, but God redirected them. Several years later they did go to Asia, but after a new mission was accomplished in Macedonia. But... The point is... Paul didn't know WHERE they were to go or why they were being redirected until AFTER they had obeyed by not going to Asia. Think about that. First God says "no" to their plan. Stopped them dead in their tracks. Only when they didn't resist the block did Paul receive the vision of going to Macedonia. For a time, a long time, these men were lost, wondering where they should turn. All they had was closed doors before them. Often when God directs our path, it is only one step at a time, and that means that "no" to the expected path must be obeyed before "yes" to a new path. What if Paul had not listened to the no? What if he had boldly forced his way to Asia to complete his plans and mission? Yes, what if? Following Jesus day by day means not having a long term plan that sets our future. That would put us back in control instead of the Holy Spirit. That would eventually be disobedience and sin! Even when God says to "go do this" we must always be listening and willing to hear "wait.. go here instead". It doesn't mean the first was wrong... It simply means something new came up. Our lives are a battle. We live in a war zone, soldiers of a mighty king. In battle things can change on a dime. No warning, no explanation. New orders. Our job is to listen, hear, follow Bottom line? Pray without ceasing. Always stay available and led by God's Spirit, not our own understanding. Never assume we know the whole story. Never assume the story is forever. Life following Jesus is full of twists, turns, changes, excitement, surprises. If we are set on truly following Him, we can embrace the "following" part and live at peace as plans change. Do with today what He leads to do and see what tomorrow might bring.
