April 29, 2016

“During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.”
(Acts 16:9-15)

Macedonia wasn’t part of Paul’s plan. He thought he should be going to Asia—but G-d intervened and took him on a wild adventure the likes of which he couldn’t have imagined. For Paul’s second missionary trip, he was hoping to go to Asia, which wouldn’t have involved any sea travel and again would’ve been a fairly easy trip. It’s possible that even Paul the Apostle was hoping to keep things a little on the modest side. Instead, G-d thrusts him onto a new continent. His radius of influence expands dramatically.

The Spirit enlarged Paul’s territory beyond his envisioning, and it was major work – and it was a major difficulty – and we have the letters to prove it. G-d had something greater in mind than Paul did. G-d can imagine things that we cannot and will invite us to be a part of it – and may even compel us to embark on such journeys even if we were planning on it. And as Augustine famously said, “G-d without us will not; we without G-d cannot.” G-d will insist on doing G-d’s own thing – and G-d will look to us to be a part of the plan.

There is the saying that goes something like this: “If you want to make G-d laugh, tell G-d your plans.” Or, in other words, no matter where we might think we are going, or what we might be planning on doing, if G-d has other plans for us, G-d will smile when we say “That wasn’t my plan” – and G-d will gently guide us toward a divine plan.

Pastor Dave