Let Him Lead
“Now
when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had
come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit
them.” – Acts 16:6-7
Paul and Silas had quite a preaching
circuit! They had travelled from Derbe
to Lystra to Iconium to Phrygia and wanted to go to Asia and preach the news of
Jesus Christ as well. But the Holy Spirit would not allow them to enter
Asia. So they travelled on to Mysia,
and wanted to go into Bithynia…but the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let
them. So they went on to Troas,
and there, in a dream, they saw a man in Macedonia begging them to come
to them. Then they understood that His
Holy Spirit was guiding them, closing paths along the way, to get them to where
He needed them to go. It was in
Macedonia that they met Lydia, a seller of purple fabric, and she was
saved after hearing them preach the gospel of Jesus.
But that wasn’t the only thing God had
planned for them in Macedonia. There was
a greater work to be done, and it would come through pain.
She was a young girl, taken into slavery by
those that made a living out of her sad condition. A spirit of divination had possessed her and
given her the ability to tell fortunes.
Make no mistake - this was not a spirit from God, but an evil
spirit. And when Paul and Silas passed
by her, just as the word says that “even
the demons believe – and tremble” (James 2:19), the trembling started!
In Acts 16:17 we read that she followed
Paul and Silas and cried out after them “These
men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of
salvation.” She followed day after day with the same cry. The evil spirit in her could do nothing more
than proclaim Jesus Christ! That doesn’t
sound like something that should bother Paul and Silas, now does it? But it annoyed Paul because it was
continuous, like nagging. It was the
sound of the evil spirit in her speaking the name of Jesus. It was the evil spirit proclaiming their
calling in Christ. Even the demon knew
these two were a problem for his father satan, and could find no rest while
they were around!
So Paul turned to her, and speaking not to
her, but the evil spirit within her, commanded he come out “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
What’s an evil spirit to do when faced with the power of the name of
Jesus but to obey? That very hour, the
girl was healed. Paul later wrote in
Phillipians 2:10 “that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of
those under the earth”, which God had shown him that day.
As powerful as Christ is, and as loving as
God is, not all will welcome Him. There
are those that simply prefer to live in darkness, because their deeds are evil
(John 3:19). The men who had made the
slave girl their income were not happy that their money maker was now
broken. They dragged Paul and Silas into
court, and claimed they were teaching things that were not lawful for Romans to
do or see. They had them beaten with
rods until their backs were striped. And then, Paul and Silas, servants of the
Most High God, were thrown into prison.
The ways of God can sometimes feel like defeat
when you don’t understand them. Who
would have guessed that God had a purpose for throwing two of His finest into
prison? Who would have thought that
their bearing the pain of a beating would have been for God’s purpose? But God’s greater plan was to use their
sacrifice of pain to bring another soul into salvation.
In the middle of the night, Paul and Silas
aren’t sleeping. They’re singing songs
to God. Can’t you just see them, sitting
in the dark, rattling their chains to create a rhythm, and Paul saying “Silas,
do you know this one? Sing with me!” as he starts to sing another hymn. Truly Paul had learned to be content in
whatever state he was in!
Then God shakes the earth with a mighty
earthquake. The walls around them stand,
protecting them from being covered in rubble, while the doors swing wide open! At this point most of us would take on the
legs of a thoroughbred horse and run like we’re in the derby away from that
prison! But Paul and Silas did not. They called out to the guard not to be afraid
for they were all there. Had they
escaped, it would have cost the guard his life.
Paul and Silas knew that the loss of his life, a roman soldier, would most
likely mean a soul in hell. They stayed
because God had other plans.
The guard apparently had felt the Holy
Spirit that was in Paul and Silas. He
craved what they had. Coming to them, he
had just one question, “Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?” That very hour the guard and all his family were
saved and baptized.
Our circumstances can be so very
misleading. Mission trips with lost
luggage seem like disasters while we’re going through them, but having to
borrow clothes from someone else humbles us to the point God can use us. Being put in jail can seem like punishment,
until God uses that experience to provide a rich prison ministry. Broken down
cars and being stranded on the side of the road can show us how much we depend
on Him for everything, and turn us to Him in prayer. The pain of losing a friend can open the door
for another to fill that empty spot. Our
little window of time that we see is nothing compared to what God sees.
Proverbs 3:5-6 challenges us to one of the
most difficult ways to follow Christ. It
challenges us to trust Him with our day, trust Him to lead the way, even when
we must do it blindly. It challenges us
to just give Christ the reins and let Him lead.
“Trust
in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”
The Holy Spirit had a reason for not allowing
Paul and Silas into Asia. There was
another work to be done, a work that would lead to the salvation and healing of
many. Understanding when the Holy Spirit
blocks a path is as important as understanding when He leads you down another.And He shall direct your paths.”
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