Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, May 24, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
This is an odd passage. Paul is traveling around but in certain places, the Holy Spirit forbids him to speak, and other times, the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t even allow them to enter a particular place. It isn’t until he gets a vision of a man in Macedonia that he knows where to go next.
I don’t know that I’ve experienced so clear a direction in my life as this. I wonder how, exactly, the Holy Spirit forbid Paul and Timothy to speak, and how, exactly, the Spirit of Jesus forbid them to go into Bithnia. Maybe it wasn’t all that clear. Maybe, as I’ve experienced, it was just the way circumstances played out that made me wonder if what I was doing was really what God wanted me to be doing. I’m not saying that everything has to come easily and smoothly in order for me to know it’s “God’s will” for me. There are plenty of times I am called to be persistent in my efforts in order to bring about what I’m supposed to. But sometimes a door just closes in my face and it’s pretty clear that I need to be looking for a different way to go. And while I’ve never had a waking vision like this, I have had dreams that, by processing my thoughts and experiences and inviting God unconsciously into their midst, provided at least a clue as to where I was to go next. I guess I would just encourage you, when unsure of your path, to be open to what God might be trying to tell you through your experiences, dreams, and the people around you.
Have I ever had a clear message about what I was supposed to do in a particular situation?
