Dec 21 2019 Acts 16: 6-10

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

In the preceding bits from Paul, he’s been joined by Timothy and Silas and this merry band is going from town to town, and we are told, the churches were strengthened in faith and grew in numbers. Reading the long list of towns and countries they visited is exhausting; that’s a lot of people and a lot of good news that’s been shared.

The merry band of disciples head towards Asia, but they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit” to speak the word of God there. They tried to go to Bithynia, an area of modern day Turkey, but they were not allowed there either. Ironically, Bithynia, where Paul and his pals were precluded to go is home of the town of Nicaea, birthplace of the Nicene Creed.

So Paul has been travelling, going on his own mission trips, and then we hear he’s blocked a few times. Then he gets a vision, clearly directing him to Macedonia. He goes, and continues his prolific ministry. I have to believe Paul was a deep believer and profound prayer. And yet, he travels to at least two places where the answer from God is Nope. Not Today. And Paul continues. So was Paul just mis-hearing his call? Did God change God’s mind? Or was the journey itself to Asia and Bithynia God’s work, rather than arriving and proclaiming God’s word? 

 

This morning, I’m thinking about all the ways I interact with God’s will. I pray. I act. Sometimes those actions are fruitful. Sometimes they seem wasted. Was my effort not really inspired by God, or was God’s will in the journey, not the successful completion of what I thought it should be.

Thinking about this upcoming mission trip, there are all sorts of things I’m learning, and I haven’t even travelled yet. I am learning about another way of thinking about God’s will and work in the world. In the past, when I’ve been faced by a way of thinking that differs from mine, I’m apt to chalk it up to God’s mystery, and peacefully co-exist. And because I’m spending much more time thinking and praying and reading about a perspective that differs, I’m working through many issues I haven’t previously tackled. It isn't as simple as just having a clear vision, like Paul. And God can work on and through me, regardless of the clarity of my path.

All of that is by way of saying that like Paul, I believe my journey is part of God’s plan, not just the destination. Today, I want to think about all of those areas where God’s working God’s plan in me, even though I don’t understand or haven’t arrived at a perceptible destination.