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Acts 16:6-12 NKJV– God Redirects Paul Towards Philippi:

Man Makes His Plans, but God Directs His Steps!

If one remains flexible, he will never get bent out of shape.”While it is difficult to discern who should receive the credit for originating this cliché, it is a catchy way to make an important point. Put another way, one’s heart attitude will not become discouraged or disgruntled if he accepts the reality that God is in control, changes in life happen, and we are able to both adjust to the circumstances and even enjoy the journey. As believers, the more we remember that our gracious, loving, sovereign, and providential God is in control, we can rest well when God alters the plans of our lives.

Acts 16:6-12 provides a description of the very first time Paul arrived at Philippi. From this encounter, the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of Paul, established a church that has encouraged believers through the centuries. But if it were not for the Lord’s divine intervention, Paul would not have visited Philippi. Philippi was not on Paul’s travel itinerary.

The way in which God intervened and redirected Paul was either by altering normal details of life that prohibited Paul from progressing with his own plan or instilling a prompting in Paul’s spirit that progressing with his own plan was not to be pursued. The Scriptures do not explicitly say how “they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia (Acts 16:6b NKJV), but we know that Paul remained sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and was also flexible, nimble, and agile to run to the center of God’s activity and to act immediately when he saw the Lord’s clear plan. In this scenario, the Spirit-imposed pause to Paul’s plans came first. Paul’s trust in the Lord stayed intact. Then God delivered His clear direction (Acts 16:6-9). At night, God provided clear direction to Paul in a vision of a man from the region of Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9 NKJV). Paul’s reaction was to “immediately” (Acts 16:10a NKJV) respond to the clear direction of the Lord because his heart was in a spiritual state readiness to respond to the calling of the Lord. “ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10 NKJV).

What is important to note is that Paul’s initial plan was not bad. Paul should not have felt any embarrassment for changing his plans based on what God revealed to him. Unfortunately, it seems that people today are quick to conclude that any change of plans is a sign of poor planning. But if the Lord redirects, believers should stand confident that they are obedient to the Lord’s plans. Changing plans – any plans – is not a sign of failure! It is not a sign of indecisiveness. If the Lord clearly redirects, believers should hold their heads high, knowing they remained obedient to the Lord and made the better choice to follow the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s approach to making plans for his life and ministry was a God-honoring approach. Paul took what information he received from the Lord, the Word of God, and from the counsel of wise believers and ran with it. Yet, he remained open to God’s redirection. And when the Lord provided new information, Paul recalibrated his plans and followed God’s new plan.

It is important for believers to know their level of responsibility and what they are not responsible for when making their plans. Believers are responsible for faithfully acting upon all of the direction and insights that the Lord has provided for them up to that point. Yet, believers are also called to recalibrate plans should the Lord provide additional insight. If believers live holy, righteous, and pure lives before the Lord and if their prayer lives are intimate, frequent, and full of praise and confession, then their hearts will be best prepared to sense the guidance of the Holy Spirit and be willing to adjust their plans, knowing they received guidance from the Lord.

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect upon how often you pray to God and ask Him to reveal His specific and perfect plan for you, then reflect on how you respond when God does indeed reveal His plan. Do you tend to respond in gratitude and praise? Or, does your reaction tend to involve complaining that His plan did not align with your initial plan? Reflect also upon any moments where you accepted God’s plan and followed His leading, and it resulted in something much better than what your plan would have accomplished. Have you ever returned to God in gratitude and praise for not permitting you to continue following your own plan?

Pray for God to work in your life in two ways: Tell the Lord that you will attempt to live according to the very familiar truths found in Proverbs 3:5-6 when making plans for your life. Then, thank God retroactively for all the times He guided the plans in your life that resulted in a better conclusion than your own plans.