Detours
• An old sailor repeatedly got lost at sea, so his friends gave him a compass and urged him to use it. The next time he went out in his boat, he followed their advice and took the compass with him. But as usual he became hopelessly confused and was unable to find land. Finally, he was once again rescued by his friends.
• Disgusted and impatient with him, they asked, "Why didn’t you use that compass we gave you? You could have saved us a lot of trouble!"
• The sailor responded: "I didn’t dare to! I wanted to go north, but as hard as I tried to make the needle aim in that direction, it just kept on pointing southeast."
• That old sailor was so certain he knew which way was north, that he stubbornly tried to force his own personal persuasion on his compass. As a result he was unable to benefit from the guidance it offered.
• Let us make sure we do not treat God like that man treated the compass; trying to manipulate him to work our way!
• We’ve all been so sure that we were right that we were willing to force the facts to fit our perception of reality. More often than not that works out badly.
• Today I want to take a brief look at the apostle Paul and his band as they hit a “detour” in their plans to evangelize the world.
Paul’s Original Plan
Acts 16:6–7 NLT
6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.
• [MAP OF THE AREA]
• This is a pretty big detour.
• It seems like, once again, the early Christians simply followed the next “logical” place to go. (Even though the Spirit had to prompt to that next step every time.)
• Instead, they receive huge “No Entry” signs from the Spirit.
• Generally, we don’t care to be told “no!” My guess is that the Lord wanted Paul to get more used to fulfilling Jesus’ plans than his own.
• it’s not that evangelizing those areas was a bad idea. But it appears that it just wasn’t time.
• What about us? How often do we check in to see if our plans (long or short term) line up with what God wants from us?
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
• Those plans are for us personally and for the folks we are doing life with.
• Paul needed to be careful to be sure he wasn’t going to try to fit the circumstances to his beliefs.
The New Plan
Acts 16:9–10 NLT
9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
• God doesn’t just tell us “no!” He will show us what He wants.
• [IMAGE]
• Paul is already doing his “pivot.”
• I think it’s important to remember that Paul knew what his ultimate mission in life was. He was clear on the goals that Jesus had for his life.
• This is just a detour. The calling was to preach the gospel. The location was different, that’s all.
Some New People
Acts 16:11–15 NLT
11 We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. 12 From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.
• It seems as though, once the new direction was set, Paul had a lot of leeway on how to fulfill the mission.
• They don’t stop at the seaport - which could have been a strategic decision.
• They moved on to the city of Philippi. Roman colony. Lots of citizens, a crossroads of the Empire. A “little Rome.”
• The good news has come to very doorstep of the Roman Empire.
• The usual pattern was to find the local synagogue and work to establish a base of believers. This had worked well to this point. But, in this case, there was no synagogue. Apparently not enough Jewish families to start one.
• Another detour. Paul isn’t deterred. He heads to the river on the Sabbath (not the first day of the week) to find folks who perhaps were believers in Jehovah.
• Now we see where this detour to a new path starts to take shape.
• At the river, he finds a group of women who are praying and worshiping.
• Paul has to confront this newest detour and determine what to do with it.
• Paul, raised religiously and culturally to consider women and inferior, must decide whether or not to share the gospel with a group of women.
• Keeping the mission in mind, Paul does just that and learns that God has brought him to a woman of influence in the region.
• Lydia (named for the region she came from) was a wealthy woman who dealt in high-end fabrics. Purple was derived from a small seashell that was relatively rare. This made the dye very expensive and thus and cloth made with it also very expensive.
• It seems likely she would have known anybody who was anybody. And we all know wealth can open a lot of worldly doors.
• Is she the “man of Macedonia” calling for help? The Bible doesn’t say but there’s no one else that seems to fit the description.
• Having heard the good news, Lydia and her family are baptized and she invites them to her home. Another potential friction point for Jewish men.
• Paul agrees and the first church in Europe is established. In fact, Paul’s most intimate and loving letter is to the church that is started on this day.
Our Detours
• It’s safe to say that we’ve all experienced detours this past year. The normal way of doing things is like a road that has simply vanished under our feet.
• At times, the detours have been so minor or slight that we have barely noticed at first.
• Sometimes, it’s been an huge “road out” sign in our faces.
• Jobs that have changed forever post-COVID.
• Relationships that have been strained to the breaking point.
• What are we going to do when the “detour” sign is in our face?
• We can sit down in the road, throw a tantrum and not budge one inch until that awful sign is gone. (How’s that work out for us?)
• We can simply ignore the sign and barrel on down the road until the big gaping hole swallows us up.
• We can keep our eye on the ultimate goal that Jesus has in store for us. Accept the detour, and see how He will use that change for his purposes.
Romans 8:28 NLT
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
• Even detours.
