God Guides His Mission
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
Paul guided by the Holy Spirit planted the seed of the gospel in the soil, at Philippi, which splendidly sprouted and soaked with suffering nurtured a nursery of missions to the world. How then, did Paul reach Philippi?
Paul and Silas went overland through Syria and Cilicia into Derbe and then to Lystra where Timothy was added to the party (Acts 15:36-16:3). Paul's yearning for the spiritual nurture of the Churches he founded, constrained him to travel the mission fields. It is illuminating to fathom how God guided missions each step of the way.
Paul and his companions travelled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them (Acts 16:6-10).
Paul and his companions were prevented by the Holy Spirit (v.6) from preaching the gospel in the Roman province of Asia during the course of his second missionary Journey. He therefore took the road northwards to Pisidian Antioch, crossed the Sultan Dagh mountain range, and continued north until he and his party reached the borders of Bithynia, (v.7), and the same thing happened. This time Luke refers to the "Spirit of Jesus" prohibiting them. Here Holy Spirit is used interchangeably with "Spirit of Jesus". As the "Holy Spirit" was interchangeably used with "God" (Acts 5:3-4). The Holy Spirit referred to in such a way, is to show the unity of the persons of the Trinity, the mystery of the trinity was indeed not unknown to the early believers.
The Roman province of Asia was the same region, where later the Holy Spirit led the Apostle John to write the seven letters in the book of Revelation. It is encouraging to document that the regions where Paul was prevented from preaching were not passed by the progress of the Gospel. How the Holy Spirit imparted His preventive will is not precisely established. It may have been through a vision or by an inward convincing persuasion, or through some outward circumstance like illness, Jewish opposition or through a word of Christian prophecy. (Cf. Acts 15:32). It is vital to learn that God can intervene even in our best plans. In all our projects and designs we should never usurp the freedom of God to rule and overrule our plans and will.
Paul and his companions were perplexed without a definite confirmation from the Lord, until a vision from Troas brought enlightenment. It was the vision in which a man from Macedonia was standing and begging Paul to "come over to Macedonia and help", that gave Paul his positive guidance. The following morning Paul shared with his companions his vision and they together agreed that God had called them to preach the gospel to the Macedonians. Paul was not behaving like an autocrat leader rather wanted important decisions to be shared by the whole group. God guides corporately as well, where a sharing of information with others takes place, so that by thinking and praying together a common mind is reached. The missionary team got ready at once to leave for Macedonia (v.10).
Shouldn't we also rejoice in God's guidance – be it "stop" or "go". The history of mission bears witness to this guidance. William Carey of England the father of modern missionary movement planned to go to Polynesia in the South Seas, but God guided him to India. Adoniram Judson came to India first, but God took him to Myanmar. Thousands of cross-cultural and cultural preachers of the gospel in India bear witness to God's guidance in making their lives fruitful in different cultures.
There is fruitfulness in living in the centre of God's will. |
