EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED (7 OF 8)
Scripture: Acts 16:6-34
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Expect the Unexpected (7 of 8)
Series: Acts: The Gospel Gone Viral
Jonathan McLeod
Acts 16:6-34
[The jailer] put [Paul and Silas] into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.... Then he brought them out and said, ''Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'' (Acts 16:24, 30).
THIS WASN'T THE PLAN!
[Read Acts 16:6-34.]
I'm someone who likes to make a detailed list of everything I'd like to accomplish each day. But often our days don't go according to plan.
That was the case with Paul and Silas. I'm sure they didn't plan to be beaten and imprisoned when they went to Philippi. But they probably also didn't expect that the jailer of the prison would be saved. Sometimes an unexpected turn of events-even a very bad turn of events-can lead to a great opportunity to share the gospel.
A CHANGE OF COURSE
Paul and Silas are ''forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word [i.e., the gospel] in Asia'' (v. 6). Then when they try to go to Bithynia, ''the Spirit of Jesus [doesn't] allow them'' (v. 7). Later, Paul has a vision in which a man says, ''Come over to Macedonia and help us'' (v. 9). Paul and Silas interpret the vision to mean that God wants them to take the gospel to Macedonia (v. 10). They were willing to change course when they sensed that God wanted them to go in a different direction. They had made travel plans, but God had a different plan for them.
Sometimes we sense God's leading and decide to change course. Other times circumstances force us to change course. Whenever God changes our course-when he takes us in a different direc-tion-it could because he wants to use us to lead someone to faith in Jesus.
YOUR REACTIONS ARE SHOWING
Paul and Silas have some initial success in Philippi. A woman named Lydia is saved and baptized (''the Lord opened her heart,'' v. 14). But after that, things go bad. Paul is repeatedly harassed by a slave girl who is possessed by a demonic spirit. Eventually, Paul becomes ''greatly anno ...
Series: Acts: The Gospel Gone Viral
Jonathan McLeod
Acts 16:6-34
[The jailer] put [Paul and Silas] into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.... Then he brought them out and said, ''Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'' (Acts 16:24, 30).
THIS WASN'T THE PLAN!
[Read Acts 16:6-34.]
I'm someone who likes to make a detailed list of everything I'd like to accomplish each day. But often our days don't go according to plan.
That was the case with Paul and Silas. I'm sure they didn't plan to be beaten and imprisoned when they went to Philippi. But they probably also didn't expect that the jailer of the prison would be saved. Sometimes an unexpected turn of events-even a very bad turn of events-can lead to a great opportunity to share the gospel.
A CHANGE OF COURSE
Paul and Silas are ''forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word [i.e., the gospel] in Asia'' (v. 6). Then when they try to go to Bithynia, ''the Spirit of Jesus [doesn't] allow them'' (v. 7). Later, Paul has a vision in which a man says, ''Come over to Macedonia and help us'' (v. 9). Paul and Silas interpret the vision to mean that God wants them to take the gospel to Macedonia (v. 10). They were willing to change course when they sensed that God wanted them to go in a different direction. They had made travel plans, but God had a different plan for them.
Sometimes we sense God's leading and decide to change course. Other times circumstances force us to change course. Whenever God changes our course-when he takes us in a different direc-tion-it could because he wants to use us to lead someone to faith in Jesus.
YOUR REACTIONS ARE SHOWING
Paul and Silas have some initial success in Philippi. A woman named Lydia is saved and baptized (''the Lord opened her heart,'' v. 14). But after that, things go bad. Paul is repeatedly harassed by a slave girl who is possessed by a demonic spirit. Eventually, Paul becomes ''greatly anno ...
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