LISTEN ONLINEI wasn’t just disappointed—I felt utterly discouraged. I’d felt so sure I was responding to God’s guidance in pursuing this project but had been rejected with my first knock on the door. Bewildered, I abandoned my desk to focus on God’s presence and pour out my confusion. While waiting for God’s response, Acts 16 came to mind. I soon became convinced that God was guiding me to keep moving, just as Paul and his companions did after the Holy Spirit had twice stopped them from entering Asia. Peace ensued.
We don’t hear of Paul’s plans for this missionary trip, but what is clear is that God overruled its direction: the Holy Spirit “kept” him and his colleagues from preaching the word in Asia (Acts 16:6) and “would not allow them” to enter Bithynia (v. 7). But Paul kept pursuing God’s purpose for him to preach the gospel, and as he reached the Aegean coast, “[he] had a vision of a man of Macedonia” (v. 9). God wasn’t leading him east, but rather north into the Greek world.
Grasping God’s prompt to keep moving, I asked Him to clarify His purpose for my project. In time, He led me to my own “Macedonia”. God directs each of us as we pursue His will. But if we take a wrong turn, we can be encouraged that if we remain open, available and attentive, He will redirect us.