"When Everything Goes Wrong”
[Acts 16:6-15]
July 18, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Paul and Silas began what we call Paul’s second missionary journey and headed back to the churches where Paul and Barnabas had preached – to disciple the young believers and to bring the decision of the Council of Jerusalem. And while they were in Lystra, Timothy joined up with Paul and continued with them on their journey.
Since Barnabas and John Mark were going to the churches in the south central area of Turkey, Paul decided it would be good to go to the western edge of Turkey and preach the Gospel there. They began by moving towards Phrygia – in the west – which would have included Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea – and also Galatia – but the Holy Spirit forbid them from going to those cities – at that time. So they went northwest to Mysia and attempted to go to Bithynia, but Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to keep them from going to Bithynia. So they went to Troas, which was a port city of Troy.
Have you ever tried to do something good and have it fail? Have you ever been trying to do what you believe to be the right thing to do and no matter what you did, you weren’t able to accomplish what you set out to do? Have you ever had everything go wrong?
That’s what was happening to Paul: he wanted to bring the Gospel to these areas of Asia – in Turkey – where the Gospel had not been preached. Certainly that was a good thing for him to do. All Christians are called to preach the Gospel to the whole Creation. And place after place, Paul was not able to go.
It becomes more confusing, when we read in our text that the Holy Spirit and Jesus were blocking Paul and forbidding Paul from entering these cities. God Himself was not allowing Paul to carry out what God had commanded. What was going on? Why didn’t God want Paul to go to those cities?
The only answer we can give to that question is – we’re not told. Paul does go to some of those cities in the future. But some of them, God does not ever allow him to go to. Instead, God sends Paul to Macedonia:
While they were in Troas, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia – which was north of Greece, “urging him [to come to Macedonia] and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” When Paul saw this vision, and related it to his companions, and they immediately left for Macedonia.
They got on a boat in Troas and sailed to the island of Samothrace, and once they had refueled, they sailed on to the city of Neapolis – the port of Thrace. And from there they went to Philippi, which was a main city in Macedonia. And in crossing to Macedonia, we find the Gospel coming to Europe for the first time.
When the Sabbath came, Paul and his companions went to a place by a river where people came to pray. And there they met a group of women. Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. He told them that God’s Savior had come and that all who believe in Jesus Alone for their salvation will be saved. And one woman, Lydia, a seller of purple goods – cloths, clothing, etc. – a worshiper of God, believed.
God opened Lydia’s heart and she received Jesus as Savior, and then she was baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – and not only her, but her entire household came to faith and they were all baptized as well. And Lydia urged them to come to her house to stay. They must have hesitated, because she challenged them, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And they did.
And that’s wonderful that Lydia and her family believed in Jesus. We don’t know anything more about her and her family, save that Paul visited her before he left Philippi. And we may wonder, why didn’t God just lead Paul go to Macedonia after he visited the cities in western Turkey? Why did God cause everything to go wrong in western Turkey – keeping the Gospel from them at that time – while Paul went to Macedonia?
We don’t know.
Why were millions of people slaughtered during the Holocaust?
Why were thousands of people murdered in 9/11?
Why is the government of Darfor slaughtering her own people?
Why did the BP oil rig fail and cause untold damage?
Why are millions of unborn children murdered every year?
Why did the Romans and the Jews conspire to murder God’s Savior?
Why do most people reject the Gospel?
When everything goes wrong – as we understand it – there are at least three reasons why everything might have gone wrong:
First, if everything goes wrong, it might be our own fault. It might be that everything goes wrong because of our sin or incompetence or laziness. We may have done something or not done something or been something or not been something that caused everything to go wrong.
For example, if you hired me to perform open heart surgery on you, it is very likely that everything would go wrong. I don’t have the training to do open heart surgery, so I would more than likely do something that would cause you to lose your life.
Or, if you put your faith in yourself and how good you are to be good enough and acceptable enough to stand before God on the Day of Judgment, everything will certainly go wrong, because you and I – and every mere human being – is a sinner, so no one can make himself or herself right before God.
Second, if everything goes wrong, it may just be that that’s life: we are sinners in a fallen and imperfect world, and it is always possible that no mater how skilled, capable, knowledgeable, and so forth, we are, things just go wrong because that’s the way the world is.
Until Jesus returns and restores the Creation, the Creation, including every mere human being, is cursed, fallen, broken, and we are sinners. So, sometimes, when we put our hands to something, everything will go wrong. Everything has been effected by the sin of Adam and Eve and our successive sins.
And third, when everything goes wrong, it may be that everything hasn’t gone wrong. We can read our text and see Paul trying to bring the Gospel to all those cities and not being able to because the Holy Spirit prevented him, and we can say that everything went wrong – he didn’t accomplish any of what he set out to do. But it may be that our perspective is wrong. Paul writes, “Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways ” (Romans 11:33, ESV). And Moses writes, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29, ESV).
What then may we learn from our text?
First, God’s Plan is always accomplished. No matter how things look or seem or feel to us, God’s Plan is accomplished in the world without fail. Paul writes that “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things...[is] according to the eternal purpose [plan] that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9b, 11, ESV).
It was God’s Plan that Paul go – at that time – to Macedonia to preach the Gospel there that – among other things – Lydia and her family would believe. God prevented Paul from going where he thought he should go, and God brought him to where He wanted him at that time.
Second, God may be moving us to something better in preventing us from accomplishing what we want to do. We know that God has promised, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). That is the long-term promise – in the end, all things will work for the good of those who love God. But it may also be that individual things – now – also work out better for us – more for our good – than what we had intended.
Paul wanted to go to western Turkey to preach the Gospel, but God wanted him in Macedonia. Was Paul prevented from some harm that he would have encountered in the cities he intended to go to? We don’t know. We do know that a church is formed in the city of Philippi, which might not have existed if God hadn’t sent Paul to Philippi to preach in Lydia’s presence at that time.
Third, no matter what happens or how things look to us, God is still trustworthy. Why? Because He is Sovereign, and He loves us.
Nebuchadnezzar confessed, “[The dominion of the Most High] is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34b-35, ESV). Our God is the Sovereign God Who does as it pleases Him and absolutely accomplishes everything exactly according to His Plan.
Now, that could be terrifying, because we don’t always understand what God’s Plan is or how God will work it out at any given moment. But for we who believe in Jesus, there is nothing to fear, and the sovereignty of God is a comfort, because we know He also loves us.
Paul writes, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32, ESV).
And Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).
There are many things we will not understand in this life. There will be times when we are trying to do everything that is right, and everything ends up going wrong. As we struggle through this life, facing mystery and hardship, let us place our hope and faith and trust in our God and Savior. Because His Plan will not fail, He is Sovereign over all, and He loves us.
Let us pray:
Sovereign God, we have little annoyances and great tragedies in our lives, and we find as we look around our neighborhood and the world, we often don’t understand what is happening or why things turn out the way they do. Help us to trust You and seek our hope and future in You through faith, remembering the Gift of Your Son and that You have promised to work all things out for the good of those who love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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