"And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them...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 16:6-7,10.
It doesn't solve anything or do any good to be mad at God. You can try, you can beg and whine, cry, barter and make plenty of other deals with Him, but it won't amount to anything. I was reminded of that fact yesterday as it's somewhat the teeter-totter of my life right now. I read this passage last night right before crawling into bed and it was as though the very heavens opened up and spoke directly to me.
Can you imagine Paul going city to city, proclaiming Jesus, being extremely obedient, fasting, praying, giving everything up; basically being super-human, super-Christian, best all-around guy probably ever? Can you picture it? He's in-touch with God. He's got it. He goes to these regions but the Spirit forbids him speaking. Now this time the Spirit forbids him so this time he probably got the word directly and knew he wasn't supposed to preach in Asia. So that's comforting that he knows close to exactly what's why going, why things are going to the way they are and he's ok with it because it's directly what God wants. But then things change. He goes to the next region, Mysia and attempted to go into Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. What does that look like? Jesus didn't allow them to go into the city. They were just walking, just trying to do some good, just trying to save some people from eternal damnation and teach them about a risen Savior that could bring them current joy, current satisfaction and hope that nothing else could bring. But Jesus stopped them by whatever means and confounded their path. He didn't appear in a vision and say, "I don't want you going there so I stopped you. Please understand I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I think you're great." Nope, nothing. He just confounded their way and offered no explanation.
But they, Paul, Silas, Timothy and probably others chose to trust God, chose not to get mad or be frustrated that they couldn't enter the town. They chose NOT to doubt in His sovereignty or doubt His plan. They chose to think higher, think wider and believe that God knew the best way. Then Paul had a vision that they should go to Macedonia. It says "immediately WE sought to go..concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." They concluded, they didn't know for sure, they didn't quite get all the answers about why they'd been stopped from entering Bithynia, but they believed in a God who works everything out for good, who has a divine plan that is so much better than our plans, even if our plans seem good or best at the time.
You can get mad at God. You can tell him how things would have worked out so much better if He'd just done this or that. You can sob and whine thinking He doesn't love you, He doesn't care, He doesn't have control. But He does, and He will continue to. So you can stand in God's way and make things more complicated or you can get out of the way and enter into your Macedonia.
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