“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. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 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.” 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, ESV)
When Plans Change
Anyone who has been regularly reading by blog posts for the past year has realized my writing has not been as regular over the past couple months. There are several reasons for this, but I’m not going to get into all of them.
Life can get crazy. As much as we like to make plans and follow them, we can’t always do it. Unexpected things pop up. Vehicles break down. Tragedies strike. The question is: How are you going to respond when things don’t go as planned?
Pout, Fight, or Roll With It?
There are a few different ways we can respond when things don’t go our way. Some pout. Since things didn’t go the way they planned, they feel betrayed, let-down, and sorry for themselves. They go through the day focused on “what could have been,” stewing on what has been lost.
Other fight. They don’t sit around and pout; they get up and fight. Since things didn’t go the way they planned, they put all their strength into “making it happen.” They refuse to sit around, letting their plans fall apart. Instead they will fight, fight, and fight some more—even if it’s futile. Just like those who are pouting, they go through their day focused on “what could have been,” fighting to recover what’s been lost.
The other option is going with the flow—or “rolling with” the changes. This is different from sitting around and doing nothing. It’s also different from fighting against reality. Going with the flow means accepting the reality of our current situation and taking action accordingly. It means letting go of our plans and grabbing hold of the situation in front of us.
Paul Rolled With It
This is probably why I love this passage from Acts. We see the Apostle Paul making plans to bring the gospel forward to the ends of the earth. Paul wanted to bring the gospel to Asia Minor, but he was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word” there. So, rather than pouting about it or fighting with the Holy Spirit, he “rolled with it” and made different plans.
He and his companions went through Phrygia and Galatia, planning to go to Bithynia. But they encountered another problem: “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” So what do they do? Do they pout or fight? No, they roll with it. They pass by Mysia and make plans to head to Troas. We don’t know what their plans were after Troas, but we DO know God changed their plans again when He gave Paul a vision to bring the gospel to Macedonia. So, they listened to God’s call and rolled with it. As a result, the gospel spread farther than they ever imagined.
Trusting God
So, as much as I love writing—and as much as I love writing regularly—things keep coming up that are higher up the priority list. And, when these things “pop up,” it’s important to trust that God has His hand in it and is working out something beyond my understanding. In trusting God, I should not pout about the changed plans, nor should I try to fight Him, but I’ve learned to “roll with it,” and trust Him. He’s a lot smarter than I am, anyway.