Have you ever tried to make your life go in a direction that just wouldn’t work out? Maybe you were just sure that a special someone was the right mate for you, but he or she didn’t see it that way and kept you firmly in the “friend zone.” Maybe you applied to a college that didn’t admit you or for a job that you didn’t get. It’s easy in situations like this to be disappointed, or perhaps even to doubt God’s love for you.

In today’s passage, we see Paul having the same sort of experience. While on his second missionary journey, he wanted to go to Asia, the area we now know as western Turkey. Then he wanted to go preach the gospel in Bithynia, on the northern coast of Turkey. Now, both of these places surely needed the gospel preached to them – after all, Paul was one of the very first missionaries to travel in that part of the world. But no matter how much sense going to these places made to Paul, doing ministry there wasn’t God’s plan for him at that time.

Now, God didn’t say “no” forever. If we read on, chapter 19 in the Book of Acts shows how Paul did eventually go to Ephesus, in the same province of Asia he was forbidden to visit in chapter 16. And in chapter 19, God did bless Paul’s Ephesian ministry with many converts, allowing Paul to do mighty miracles of healing.

But in Chapter 16, God had other plans for Paul – He wanted Paul to be the first to carry the gospel to the continent of Europe. And of course, it was there that the gospel spread to our pagan ancestors. And it was from Europe that the gospel was first carried to the Americas. Paul’s journey to Macedonia bore tremendous fruit in the years to come.

Would Paul have ever gotten around to going to Macedonia if he had first experienced his tremendous success in Asia? Of course we can’t be sure. But God wanted Paul’s life to unfold in the particular order that it did. And great blessings came to the worldwide Church as a result.

So, sometimes when God tells us “no,” He really means “not yet.” And sometimes when God tells us “no,” it’s because He has an even greater “yes” in mind somewhere down the road. But if we’ll stop trying to be in control of everything, if we follow the Lord and seek to do His will, we can be sure that He will eventually allow us to serve Him and to serve others – in His way and in His time.

Acts 16:6-10 (ESV)

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 had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.