Today’s Passage: Acts 16:6-10

You might think it strange, but on more than one occasion I have prayed the God please keep closed the doors He did not want me to walk through, and open the one that was His will.

In my current position, after quite a few months of pursuing a specific calling, one I had experience and training for, I found no open doors. Then I was asked to consider working at The Pocket Testament League. My initial reaction was “No”, but after prayer and seeking counsel from some godly brothers and sisters, I “threw my hat in the ring”. Immediately God responded—the door was open.

Today in the Scriptures we read what may appear a rather strange tale. For me, it is a tale of open and closed doors.

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 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." 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. - Acts 16:6-10

“Forbidden by the Holy Spirit” and “the Spirit of Jesus not allowing them”…We are not sure the exact means God used to make this happen. Yet reading Paul’s story draws me back to my situation, which I recounted at the beginning of this reflection. 

Would I say “the Holy Spirit forbid me” the jobs I was seeking? I think I would. I had tried, but other human beings had declined me. I wonder how Paul was deprived the opportunity. Did he write a letter requesting to visit and his entry was declined? We cannot be sure. Perhaps it was illness, or strong Jewish opposition, or a sense in their spirit that they should not enter. 

To get a sense of Paul seeking God’s direction, let’s spend some time pondering how far Paul and his companions walked, and how long they waited, as they sought to serve God. Geography will help us. 

Paul and his companions spent time first in Derbe and Lystra. These places are pretty easy to find on a map. Then the text says they were in the “region of Phrygia and Galatia”. Scholars suggest this was the areas of Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. 

Pisidian Antioch, the centre of the Phrygian region, was also very close to the border of the province of Asia. It was natural, therefore, that the missionaries’ eyes should look south-west along the main road. It was called the Via Sebaste, also known as the Imperial Road. This road led to Colosse (about 150 miles) and then to the coast at Ephesus (almost as many miles beyond). I wonder how far they travelled along this road, seeking God’s direction before they were turned back.  

With the south-westerly route blocked, they turned north until they reached the border of Mysia, which was not a Roman administrative region but an old name for much of Asia Minor’s north-westerly bulge. Here they tried to continue north and enter Bithynia, the province situated on the southern shore of the Black Sea, including towns like Nicea and Nicomedia. 

But again, they were blocked. 

Having come from the east, and having found the southwesterly and northerly roads obstructed, the only direction left open to them was North-West. So, they went ‘through’ Mysia (JB) or passed by it, which could mean either that they ‘neglected’ it, in the sense that they did not stop to evangelize there, or that they ‘skirted’ it (NEB), because there was no main road straight through its territory to the coast. Whichever precise route they took, they arrived in the Aegean port of Troas, close to the Hellespont, which we call the Dardanelles. 

They had come a long way, in fact all the way from the south-east to the north-west extremities of Asia Minor, and by a strangely circuitous route. They must have been scratching their heads, wondering what God’s plan and purpose was. It must have seemed that all God was saying was, “No.” 

One night however, they received a positive lead. In Troas, Paul had a dream or vision in which he saw a man of Macedonia standing and begging him in some posture of appeal, perhaps beckoning, and heard him saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia [across the Aegean Sea] and help us.’ 

Here is a link to a map of their travels…I had to have my Bible open as I was looking at it.

Why might I have given us a rather tortured review of their situation? Because it shows just how far they literally walked, how long it literally took, for God to reveal his will to them.

How often I want to treat God like a fast-food drive through. I want to place my order and immediately pick it up!

Here we see a few ways God leads:

1. God kept doors closed, in this case two different doors, leaving them really only one direction, west.

2. God gave a positive vision, an open door.

3. These circumstances were the basis for their discussion. The text says they immediately went, but it also says “we sought to go…concluding God had called us. They then put two and two together, the negative and the positive.

Consider the various ways God communicated to them. Yes, there were open/closed doors, but more. This is more than circumstantial, they used their minds (the text says, “thinking about our situation”), they did it in a group/corporate way. Do we share the data with others, so that we can mull over them together and reach a common mind? Stott points out the verb in verse 10, symbibazō, can be translated a few ways: the King James ‘assuredly gathering’ (AV), the RSV, NIV, NEB ‘concluding’ and the JBP and JB ‘convinced’. It means literally to ‘bring together’, to ‘put together in one’s mind’ (GT), and so to infer something from a variety of data.

I realize I spent quite a bit of time on these few verses. However, learning the methods and patterns whereby God leads us are vital to following Jesus. 

Are you facing any decisions today where what we pondered might help?