Dear Friends,

Have you ever said, “I don’t know what to do!”? You’re in good company. God does not treat us like little children (“put on your blue shirt, don’t wear your green socks with it”) but like adults (“Here are the principles; you decide.”). That can be scary but today’s devotional shows that it is just the way he treated the Apostle Paul! For help in finding out what to do you can read Garry Friesen and J. Robin Maxson, “Decision Making and the Will of God” which I found very helpful. God bless you.

Because of Calvary,

John Janney

• I Corinthians 16:5-6 (ESV)

  Plans for Travel
  5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go.

“Paul was at Ephesus when he wrote this letter. His plan was to travel to Macedonia for a time of ministry…winter at Corinth, and then  go to Judea with the collection. From November to February, it was impossible to travel by ship; so it would have been convenient for Paul to stay at Corinth and be with his friends. There were some problems to solve in the church and Paul had promised to come to help the leaders (1 Cor. 11:34).

“However, various circumstances forced Paul to revise his plans at least twice. His ‘Plan B’ was to visit Corinth, then travel through Macedonia, passing through Corinth a second time on his way to Judea (2 Cor. 1:115-16). Instead of one long visit, he planned two shorter visits; but even this plan did not materialize. ‘Plan C’ turned out to be a quick and painful visit to Corinth, after which he returned to Ephesus. He then went to Troas to wait for Titus (who had been sent to Corinth, 2 Cor. 2:12-13; 7:5ff.), visited Macedonia, and then went to Judea. He did not spent as much time at Corinth as he had hoped or as they had expected.

“What do we learn from this difficult experience of Paul’s? For one thing, a Christian must use his common sense, pray, study the situation, and seek the best he can to determine the will of God. Proverbs 3:5-6 (‘lean not to your own understanding’) must not be interpreted to mean, ‘Put your brain in neutral and don’t think!’ God gave us our minds and He expects us to think, but He does not want us to depend only on our own reasoning. We must pray, meditate on the Word, and…seek the counsel of mature Christian friends….

“After we have done all we can to determine the leading of the Lord, we must decide and act, and leave the rest to the Lord.” [Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary V, (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2001), p. 622-623]