Now when they had gone through Phyrgia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia. Acts 16:6
If not read carefully, today’s text could be a seen as a contradiction of a direct commandment of the Lord Jesus. In Mark 16:15, the Lord told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. No exemptions there! And yet, our text tells of a prohibition on preaching the Gospel to a specific people in a particular area. Is this a contradiction? It cannot be because the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit cannot ever be in any but absolute harmony. So why are some people in Asia to be deprived of the opportunity to hear the Gospel? Have they done something wrong? Is there a reason for them to be less privileged than others? The answer of course lies not in the people of Asia but in the people of another area who God is calling his workers to serve. It also lies in the willingness of those workers to be led by the Holy Spirit to the place and people of God’s choosing and according to God’s timing.
The people in Asia will eventually hear the Gospel. But God’s purposes at this time lie in another direction. We should be thrilled at that, because that other direction was toward Europe, toward the part of the world where our forbears are from. Had the missionaries headed east, we might well have missed out on much of the Gospel’s heritage. But they headed west, to our benefit, and at the behest of the Holy Spirit. How did the missionaries know which way to turn? At this point in the history of Christianity, God provided to His servants more specific directions that we receive today. He often revealed His purpose and guidance to Paul directly, Paul being an apostle. Such revelations do not occur today because we have no apostles. But unlike the apostles, we have the completed Word of God. And it provides all of the direction and guidance that we need.
The missionaries apparently wanted to go to Asia. But the Holy Spirit closed that door. So the missionaries dropped their plans and agreed to take up the Holy Spirit’s plans. That was a wise decision. And it is always a wise decision today. Sometimes we have plans, and they might be good plans with the best of intentions. They might even be plans of service for our Lord. It’s not easy to give up on such plans, but sometime it’s necessary. Sometimes, as with the missionaries, our timing is out of synch with God’s purposes. Sometimes we must abandon our plans; sometimes we must accept God’s ‘not yet’ and put our plans on hold. But regardless, we need to submit to the leading of the Spirit, because He will never lead us wrong.
My plans should always take second place to those of God, because only God’s plans will bring glory to Him. -Jim MacIntosh