Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Divine Detours

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In the early 1900s, one of the world’s premier evangelists was Solomon Ginsburg. He has an interesting story, but the short version goes like this—Ginsburg was born in Poland into a Jewish family. As a young man, he converted to Christ after studying Isaiah 53. After his conversion, his family disowned him, but he persevered and became a well-known preacher.
            The story goes that in 1912 Ginsburg had finished up a month long evangelistic campaign in Lisbon, Portugal in which over a thousand professions of faith were made. He was tired and decided to take a furlough to the U.S. He bought tickets for a boat to take him from Portugal, then England, then to the U.S. But on the morning he was about set out, there were terrible weather reports for the Bay of Biscay. After praying about it and reading Deut. 2:7 during his devotions, he felt that the Lord was telling him to delay his trip. So, he waited a few days. Ginsburg eventually caught the Majestic in London and his transatlantic voyage was smooth and restful.
            Only after arriving in the U.S. did Ginsburg learn why his trip was delayed. Had he gone with his original schedule, Ginsburg would have arrived just in time to board the . . . Titanic.[i]

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                                                           Solomon Ginsburg (1867-1927)

God’s delays are not denials, and there is design in all His detours. Paul encountered a similar situation in Acts 16 during his second missionary journey:

            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[c] 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)

If you look at a map, you can clearly see that God called an audible in the middle of this second missionary journey. Having traveled up Asia Minor, Paul planned to go northeast which would lead him around the Black Sea and deeper into Asia. But, God slammed the door shut and padlocked it. Through a supernatural vision the Spirit directed Paul and company northwest. The mission would take them into Macedonia, which was the threshold into Greece and Europe.

Image result for paul's second missionary journey map

A good verse to keep in mind with this text is Psalm 37:23 which reads, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” We could add to that, “the stops of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Sometimes God orders our steps, by putting up stops. For reasons unknown at the time, the Holy Spirit would not allow Paul and his companions to go the way they first planned.

I was curious as I studied this passage, I wondered, “How many times has God redirected His servant’s travel agenda?” Here are just a few instances:

·         God allowed Joseph to be sold to a slave-trading caravan that took him from Canaan to an Egypt. That move resulted in Joseph’s ascendency to the Prime Minister (Gen. 37.  
·         The Lord detoured Moses and the nation of ex-slaves as they came out of Egypt. Instead of taking them directly into Canaan, he took them down to the Red Sea (Ex. 13-14).
·         The unexpected death of Ruth’s first husband led her to move from Moab to Bethlehem, where she would later meet Boaz (Ruth 1)
·         When Jonah refused to go preach to Ninevah, God sent a great fish to swallow him up and get him back on track (Jonah 2:10-3:1)
·         In John 4 Jesus went out of His way to go to Samaria just to meet the woman at Jacob’s well.
·        The angel of the Lord directed Philip to leave the revival in Samaria to meet up with an Ethiopian official on a dusty road outside Jerusalem (Acts 8)

In almost every one of those instances, God closed one door, but opened another one because there was a greater opportunity just around the bend.

In the case of Paul, he may have not realized it, but this course correction would alter world history—because God was leading him to establish a Gospel beachhead on the European continent. God had a divine appointment for Paul in Philippi to meet Lydia, a demon possessed girl and a jailer. Each one heard the Gospel because of a Spirit-inspired detour.   

The Spirit of God, leads the people of God, into the will of God. And, wherever God guides, He always provides. What Paul shows us in following the Spirit’s lead is that we must be flexible and adaptable to God’s plan. When God sets a divine appointment, He takes us off the beaten path to meet people whose hearts are hungry for the Gospel message.

A good prayer we should learn to pray is—“Lord, today put me in the path of someone who needs to hear about you. Lord give me faith to trust that you are ordering my steps and give me boldness to speak your word.”

-DM





[i] Robert J. Morgan, From This Verse (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998), January 23.  

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