Day 321: Acts 16, 17 and 18

…they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not let them (CEV, Acts 16:7).

 

In 1990, the song Unanswered Prayers hit #1 on the Billboard country music charts, which helped keep Garth Brooks’ album No Fences on top for 30 weeks. Based on a true story, the song details a husband and wife at a home town football game where they run into his high school flame. Thinking back, all those years ago he thought that girl was the one, but realizes the best thing God ever did for him was not answering that particular prayer… at least not in the affirmative.

Two times Paul and his missionary troop encountered a divine detour. First, they planned to travel due west from Galatia into Asia, but God shut that door. Then they diverted north and thought they’d visit Bithynia (the northernmost part of Asia Minor bordering the Black Sea), but again God said, No. By default they ended up in Troas, where Paul had a dream bidding him come to Macedonia. Troas was, by the way, the seaport lying on the most direct route to Macedonia.

If Paul hadn’t been responsive to the Spirit’s leading, he would not have met Lydia (the seller of purple cloth), who was already a gentile convert to Judaism and in whom the Spirit was at work drawing her to Christ. God said no to Paul’s plan because he had a better plan.

What unanswered prayers are you thankful for today?