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LED BY GOD
(Acts 16:6-10)
October 9, 2022
Read Acts 16:6-10 - Modern directions are sometimes complicated, aren't they?
Used to travel to Chicago a lot and once saw a sign at a complex freeway interchange that read, "To Make a Left Turn, Make Two Right Turns."
Didn't make much sense, but guess what?
It worked.
Sometimes God's leading seems equally perplexing.
We want His will, but if only He'd text or email!
We want clarity.
Might even put out a fleece, like Gideon.
But God is not our genie.
Bruce Waltke says, "I think 'laying out a fleece' is generally the lazy man's way of trying to discern the will of God.
It requires no work, little discipline, and almost no character development.
God has a different program of guidance."
Discerning God's leading isn't just about the destination, it's about the growth on the journey.
This brief passage gives us an example of how God re-directed Paul and Silas to get them where He wanted them.
It shows us that closed doors can be just as leading as open ones.
It encourages us that God will lead those who seek Him.
Pursuing Him saves so much heartache and difficulty in life.
I see here 4 principles to help us see His will, not ours.
I. To Be Led by God You Must Be Moving
On this journey, P&S have revisited and strengthened churches established on Paul's 1st journey.
Then, they decide to go west into Asia [not our Asia, but a small Roman province in modern Turkey], but they were "forbidden by the HS to speak the word in Asia."
So, didn't God care about Asia?
He did.
The churches of Rev 2-3 were later added.
Paul spent 3 years in one of them - Ephesus.
God cared about Asia, but that was not His plan for P&S at this time.
So, they continued NW instead of straight west.
7 "And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia [to the north], but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them."
So, now, having gone NW into Mysia, they are prevented from going south to Asia, north to Bithynia and they've just come from the east.
They must be wondering exactly where they are supposed to be.
This shows us something about God's leading.
First, it's not always straight ahead.
It may involve closed doors.
David Livingstone wanted to go to China, but spent his life in Africa instead.
William Carey wanted to go to Polynesia, but was sent to India.
Closed doors are just as important as open ones.
At various times I thought I would be an architect, an engineer, a doctor - anything, frankly, except a pastor, yet here we are.
When Patty and I were considering our future in 2007, we at various times thought the East Coast, or Switzerland - or CA.
But here we are in Eaton.
Closed doors have meaning.
So, is God just playing with us?
Like mice in a maze?! No! He's teaching us lessons in patience, dependence, listening - showing us how big He is and how small we are.
Closed doors - whether thru illness, rejection, special circumstances or other means are no less God's leading than open doors.
But the big point here = To be led you must be moving!
Closed doors are meaningless if you're stationary.
P&S because they were moving thus God was able to funnel them continuously to the NW and eventually across the Aegean Sea to Europe - but only because they were moving.
When I was a boy, I loved to play on Dad's tractors.
I knew it all - how to steer, clutch, brake, change gears.
I knew it all.
But those tractors never moved an inch.
They pointed the same direction no matter how much I clutched, steered and braked.
In fact, it was hard to even try to steer.
But what a diff when Dad let me drive.
I could steer it easily - when it was moving.
So, if you want God's leading in your life, get moving.
Get involved; try various roads, learn all you can and you'll find He will be there to guide.
II.
To Be Led by God You Must Be Listening
Now, how exactly were P&S led.
Luke joins them at Troas causing some to surmise perhaps God used illness to get them there to see Dr. Luke.
God could have done that, but that supposes they traveled hundreds of miles on foot just to meet up with Luke, bypassing other docs in the process.
Nor does it explain how their journey was disrupted not once, but twice.
Others suggest God used their gift of prophecy to lead them directly.
But look -- We are told how they were led.
In v. 6, they were "forbidden by the HS to speak the word in Asia."
And in v. 7, "the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them" to go to Bithynia.
There's no secret as to how they were led.
It was the HS.
They were always listening for Him, and thus they were guidable.
So, did He speak aloud to them?
Like your GPS?
He could have, but there is no indication of that either.
Likely they were led by the HS in the same way we are, which involves some spiritual disciplines in our lives.
First, the Spirit speaks thru the Word.
It is His book, and He speaks thru it.
II Tim 3:16 tells us, "All Scripture is breathed out by God."
In both Hebrew and Greek, the words for breath and spirit are the same.
This passage is saying that all Scripture is "God-Spirited" - written by men, yes, but generated by the HS.
II Pet 1:21 describes the process: "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the HS."
This is His book, and He leads thru it, whether P&B - or us!
I Cor 2:10b) "For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." Want to know God's mind on your life?
You must be listening to the Spirit.
And where do we first get the Spirit's words?
13) "And we impart this (Bible) in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."
So if you want to know His will for you - start with the Word.
It's filled with His will.
Obey that first.
Do you really think He is going to reveal His will in other areas if we are not listening to, learning and obeying what he's already revealed?
If you know it's His expressed will that you honor your parents, but you are blowing them off, do you imagine He'll lead you regarding a career choice or spouse?
Listen, Beloved, 90% of what we need to know about God's leading is already there in His Word.
If we're living in that world, He'll get us the rest.
The question for most of us is not, can we find God's will.
The question is, will we obey God's will.
If we're not obeying what we already know, why should He reveal any more?
Start with what you know!
Obey that first.
You say, "But that doesn't tell me Yale or Harvard?"
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