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 had 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 encounter a divine detour. First, they plan to travel due
west from Galatia into Asia, but God shuts that door. Then they divert north
and attempt to visit Bithynia (the northernmost part of Asia Minor bordering
the Black Sea), but again God says, No. By default they end up in Troas, where Paul
has a dream bidding him come to Macedonia. Troas is, 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.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
God knows what’s best for
you. Thank him for guiding your path up to now – even the times you didn’t
understand what he was doing. Ask for grace to trust him in days to come.
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