Acts 16:6-15
So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (vv. 8-9) What’s strange to me in these two verses is that Paul is even at Troas. If you look at a map, the Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe are in east-central modern-day Turkey, directly north of Cyprus, very far inland from the western coast of modern-day Turkey. In fact, Galatian Antioch is closer to Syrian Antioch than it is to Troas. So, having visited those four Galatian cities where he had preached before, Paul continues northwest through Phrygia and Mysia. Paul had been prohibited by the Spirit to speak further in Asia (modern-day Turkey), so he was intending to go to Bithynia, on the northern coast of modern-day Turkey (the southern coast of the Black Sea), a couple hundred miles east of Istanbul. But he was prohibited by the Spirit to go there also. So his only course was westward, to the west coast of modern-day Turkey, where Troas was located. And at Troas, as fortune (and the Holy Spirit) would have it, he gets the call in a dream to cross the Aegean Sea to go to Philippi, a city in what was then Macedonia and is now in the northeastern strip of land in modern-day Greece.
Why is this strange to me? It took two prohibitions from the Holy Spirit and one dream to get Paul to where the Lord wanted him. That is, Paul had made his plans, but the Lord took over and gave Paul His plans! I look at Paul’s change-of-plans and compare his journey to how Carol and I have found our way to St. Andrew’s. I failed at Texas A&M University – I was denied tenure in 1990. I failed at the University of Delaware – I was not hired into an open position in 1996 even though I was a visiting professor there. And the Episcopal Church failed to follow Scripture faithfully in 2003, leading to St. Andrew’s being formed and forcing us to look for fellowship outside the Episcopal Church. Three major failures and here we are!! Each of those failures was heartbreaking at the time, but the Lord had His plan for us. Blows me away when I really think about it…!! GLORY!
Slava Bohu!
I too was struck that God tells us what direction not to go, as well as where to go. I think of Jonah.
I also loved that Paul spoke to a group of women. Lots of women appear in the early church.
I’m certainly glad that we have women in leadership positions in OUR church!! Kelly, Sharon, Ellen, Debbie, Carol, Shelley, Katey…!
Let me set this record straight: Fred did not “fail” in the situation at Texas A&M—the tenure committee actually voted for him; the politics of a new department chair that year undermined that decision. (He could have sued them and would probably have won it, but I guess we’ll never know…) It was a very difficult time, that’s for sure.
He also did not “fail” at University of Delaware—he was there for a one-year temporary assignment while someone was on sabbatical, and when a position opened up during that time he hoped to get it, but they chose another candidate; disappointing, but that happens.
But yes, in both cases when we look back, we realize God was leading us somewhere else where HE wanted us, and we were extremely blessed in the long run…
I imagine Paul was feeling similarly through his missionary trips at times!