Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Acts 16 and Psalm 84

Acts 16 includes the fascinating account of the Holy Spirit’s very hands-on guidance of Paul, Silas and Timothy’s mission.

First the Spirit kept them from preaching in the Roman province of Asia (modern-day Turkey). Then He would not allow them to enter Bithynia. It’s not that the Lord didn’t want the Gospel preached in those places. It was just that, at that moment, these men would not have been the right people in the right place at the right time. Thankfully, they were sensitive and obedient enough to the Holy Spirit’s guidance to sense the “stop sign”.

Eventually, having arrived at the coastal town of Troas, Paul was given a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ The missionary team obeyed at once, and thus began the wonderful adventure that gave rise to the Church in Philippi. In their short visit to Philippi, they led to Christ the influential businesswoman, Lydia, her household, the local jailer, and his household. And even though they were forced to leave the City quite soon, the few new believers they left behind managed to remain faithful and keep growing in Christ, to the point that Paul would later write of them:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)

Imagine the joy the missionaries would have missed out on if they had not remained sensitive to the Spirit.

Life application: Seek to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and allow Him to lead you. Don’t try to force your way through a closed door, but always quickly step through the doors He opens for you to have Gospel conversations with people today.