Devotional: Don’t Go There

(Read Acts 16:4-10) I cannot count the times that I have made plans only to have to change my plans because of unseen circumstances. Does this mean that a person should not make plans for their life? Maybe their plans were not good ones. There are many reasons that we have to change our plans, even good plans. The reality is that our good plans may be different from God’s plans. Paul is on his second missionary journey. He comes to Derbe and Lystra (v. 1). As they journey to the cities they are taking a message to the churches from the apostles in Jerusalem (v. 4). Everything is going as planned until Paul decides to go into Asia (v. 6) Paul changes his plans because of the directions of the Holy Spirit. The Lord appears to Paul in a vision and instructs him to go into Europe to preach the gospel (vv. 9-10). It is not wrong to take responsibility for our lives. We should make good plans. Let us be aware that sometimes God’s plans are different from ours. When the Holy Spirit stops us from going somewhere we should not go there. We must listen for the voice of the Lord and follow His directions. Prayer: Lord, teach us to be willing to change our plans so that we can follow you to wherever you lead us. Amen.