They made their way through Phyrgia [6] and Galatia [7], but the Holy Spirit prevented them from speaking God's message in Asia. When they came to Mysia [8] they tried to enter Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them. So they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas [9], where one night Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man standing and appealing to him in the words: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" (Acts 16:6-9)
Well what's so special about a bunch of verses telling us where Paul went? Let's go back to chapter 15, where Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement over whether John Mark should be allowed to join them. The result is a split and two different teams with two different destinations. What a great way to start out a mission trip. Once Paul starts the trip he tries to go to three different places but God closes the door each time. Paul has no idea where he's supposed to go. After about 700 miles of travel you can imagine how discouraging this could be becoming. With no other direction to go in they reach Troas and can walk no farther because it's on the coast; finally God gives Paul a vision. However, if you keep reading in chapter 16 you find out that once they reach Macedonia they find women by the river and a demon possessed girl but no sign of a Macedonian man. Wasn't that the vision? Was that really from You God? After a few days Paul might have been asking these questions. But wait it gets better, after driving the demon from the girl the crowd attacks Paul and Silas, they get flogged, thrown into jail, and have their feet put into stocks. Yet somehow Paul and Silas are still able to pray and sing hymns. What do these men know that keeps them going?
I feel like Paul and Silas much of the time, not really sure where God is trying to lead me. God, what should I major in? God, which school should I go to? God, should I date this girl? God, where do You want me to work? God, should I go on this mission trip? God, should I stay for an extra two weeks of language study? The pressure of all these decisions can get quite stifling and it's so easy to feel overwhelmed. I feel so lost. My spirit feels crushed, how can I sing and praise God?
What did these men have that I need? Faith. Trusting that God is taking care of us, that He knows what's going on, and that when He says something He means it. But having faith would be easy if things happened right away. There's a second element: patience. I've heard it defined as doing something you don't like for a long time. That's why patients is also called longsuffering. If you were doing something that you liked, it wouldn't require patience, it would be fun and natural. Faith and patience need to work together to get us to where God wants us to be.
At midnight, while Paul and Silas are singing and praying, an earthquake hits and frees them from their chains. The jailer is about to kill himself when Paul reassures him that all the prisoners are still there. He falls at Paul's feet and asks what he must do to be saved. "At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized" (Acts 16:33).
"The word of God is called a lamp because it only lights the path a few feet in front of you." -Unknown
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