Life in His Presence

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

Ac 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 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.

I wanted to share five things that stood out to me yesterday when I read this passage and I think you will find them encouraging.

1. If the Lord sends you – go!

Don’t worry if you are supposed to reach out to a certain area or people. If the Spirit of God has sent you out to spread the good news of Jesus, or whatever He has showed you that He has called you to do. Just do it.

2. Always stay close to the Lord so you can hear His voice and sense His Spirit’s leading

It is possible that we can get so caught up in the initial sending/calling of the Lord that we drift from a focus of being intimately near the Lord to a focus on routine religious duty (replacing God with religious activity) where it becomes difficult to  hear His voice and sense His leading. As we go in obedience to His initial revelation, He will continually unfold the next steps for us. We have to trust and obey and stay close so that we can hear new updates from heaven.

3. At times, God will prevent us from going in a certain direction, even though that direction makes sense to us and others around us

When the Spirit of Jesus prevented Paul from going into Asia Minor, it is remarkable to me. This area needed Jesus just as much as any other area. Why did Jesus prevent them from going?

I am sure many theologians have tried to explain it, but the Bible does not give us the answer so we do not know. But what I do know is that Paul listened! We have to be sensitive to the Lord leading us into a different direction.

4. God will use visions that aren’t always literal in their interpretation to show us the next step

Paul didn’t have a vision of a man in Macedonia asking them to come to Macedonia to preach the good news. The Bible says the man was begging them to “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Paul and his companions interpreted this to mean that they were supposed to go preach the gospel to Macedonia. Why didn’t God just tell them, “No, I do not want you to go to Asia Minor. I want you to go to Macedonia instead to share my word there”?

The answer to that question is really not important when being obedient to your heavenly Father is at the core of your being. I am of the opinion that God is profoundly more creative than typical religion would have you believe. I believe He can speak in multiple ways and He enjoys doing so.

At any case, we need to be open to all the ways God speaks to us.

5. They got ready to leave immediately after receiving the vision

This is the part that amazes me the most. When they received this vision to go, they went. They went! No delays. They immediately obeyed the Lord. I think this was because they were already in obedience mode.

I personally want to be in that place where I am always in obedience mode and am constantly responding to the Lord with an obedient heart. Trusting what He is telling me is the very best possible thing I could be giving my heart and effort to.  And when a change in direction comes, I want to hear it no matter how the Lord wants to speak to me, and I want to obey it immediately!

One other thing to note, which I think a lot of believers in America get mixed up about since we live in a culture of instant results: Paul and his companions didn’t immediately end up in Macedonia. And they weren’t rushing in a guilt like frenzied hurry where they would have been beat down on the inside because they weren’t seeing the results of the vision come to pass immediately.

Instead, they changed their focus and direction. When they began to go, that was the obedience. When the Lord speaks something to you, get caught up in the awesome privilege you have that you are able to actually hear God and get focused on taking steps in that direction. Don’t get caught up in the results or in how well you are obeying Him. God is not asking us to produce results. He is asking us to go.

Big difference. Subtle, but it’s still a big difference. If you will catch that, being obedient to the Lord is a fun adventure. Doesn’t mean there won’t be tough times. But it does mean you have the God of the universe in you, behind you and in front of you with all of heaven in agreement with you.

Why? Because you chose to agree with your Father’s word to go!

In His Presence,

Walt