The forbidding didn’t last that long. By chapter 18 of Acts, Paul is teaching in Ephesus, a city of Asia, and soon a thriving church was growing there. But it sounds weird that God would forbid the Gospel to be preached anywhere. Why?
We don’t know. We can guess, of course; maybe God knew that the people weren’t ready yet, or maybe there was a severe threat of persecution, and God didn’t intend Paul and the other missionaries to go through that experience, at least not right then. Or maybe God simply wanted to get the group to Macedonia faster. We can guess, but we don’t know.
And it’s like that for us today in our lives, too. God does some strange things at times. We may watch a loved one who was baptized into the faith, who was confirmed and seemed to be a strong Christian-but for years now they’ve gone off on their own path, far away from Jesus. We pray for them and hope for them to return, but they seem farther away than ever. And when we talk to them, we seem to be doing no good. In fact, we worry we may be doing them harm. How could God allow this to happen? Surely God wants that person to return!
We are right in thinking God wants that person back in the faith. And Paul was right in thinking that God wanted the Gospel preached everywhere, including Asia and Bithynia. But the details of how God reaches out to people-the mysteries of how God deals with groups of people and with individuals-these are things God has not told us. And it’s hard to deal with.
So what can we do? The same thing Paul and Silas and Timothy did-we can keep trying, all the while trusting God to show the way. Because He will. God brought the missionaries safely to Macedonia, where they met a small group of women praying beside a river outside Philippi. One of them was Lydia, the first documented Christian convert in Europe. She and many others in her city came to know Jesus our Savior, who laid down His life to rescue them and us from the power of evil. This was God’s plan for them from the beginning.
We know that Jesus loves the people we care about, even more than we do. He died for them, after all. And we know that He will do everything possible for them to be His. He rose from the dead so that could happen. In the meantime, we can pray, hope, and hold ourselves ready to serve-however Jesus calls us.
THE PRAYER: Lord, please reach the people I love who are far from You, and bring them to Yourself. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.