For Just One

The small band of travelers had changed from Paul and Barnabas to Paul and Silas. A small disagreement between Paul and Barnabas had resulted in this change. We have the benefit of looking back on this minor change equipped with the knowledge that God’s hand is even in the smallest details, minute details that ultimately affect the big picture.

This was just one of many small details that bear the signature of God in the story of Paul’s second missionary journey (See Acts 16)

Barnabas boarded a ship and set sail for the island of Cyprus, sans the Apostle Paul.  If Paul had boarded the ship with his friend then he may never have met Timothy of Lystra. Luke tells us that Timothy was already a disciple of whom the brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of. If he had never met Paul then it may have ended there. But because of a change in plans he did meet Paul, and then Timothy would go on to travel with the Apostle, spreading the gospel across the land. Paul would mentor young Timothy and he would go on to lead the church in Ephesus. Yet Timothy is not the big picture that God had in mind, he was a detail along the way.

Paul desired to go into province of Asia but the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit prevented Paul and his companions from going there. Luke does not tell us how the Spirit prevented Paul just that He did. Detoured in his travels Paul then tried to enter Bithynia, and again he was prevented from doing so by the Spirit.

If God had not made these small changes in the plans of Paul then Paul may never have traveled to Trojas where he laid his head down to rest. After falling asleep Paul had a dream of man from Macedonia begging Paul—“Come over to Macedonia and help us”.

On the banks of a river Paul meets a woman named Lydia. She heard Paul’s message and God opened her heart and then Lydia became a believer in the Lord. And yet Lydia, this dealer of purple cloth and new believer was not the big picture that God had in mind, she was a detail along the way.

As we draw near to then of this story Paul again is at the river to pray when yet another woman crosses his path. Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth; this woman was a dealer in fortunes. She was possessed by a demon that recognized Paul and his men as followers of the Most High God. But demons have no place in the work of God, so Paul commanded the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” Without the demon to guide her fortune telling this woman was of no use to the men who owned her. Outraged that Paul had put end to their moneymaker, these men incited a riot and Paul and Silas were beaten over and over.

As night fell, from the dark pit of their prison cell, beaten and placed in painful stocks, Paul and Silas began to sing! They sang songs of praise to the Most High God. The prison was silent except for the voices of Paul and Silas as all the other prisoners listened to a sound so foreign to the chambers of a prison. I believe their voices were heard in Heaven and greeted by a standing ovation. And when Heaven’s angels began to applaud the earth began to shake. Locks were broke and cell doors flew open, yet not a single man fled, for they all knew that God’s perfect plan was about to happen.

The prison guard, realizing what had happened and believing that all the prisoners had escaped, drew his sword, prepared to end his own life. Instead he heard the words of Paul. Paul who had not sailed the sea with Barnabas, Paul who had not gone to Asia or Bithynia, Paul who had not declared his Roman citizenship which would have prevented the beating and incarceration—“Don’t harm yourself, we are all here.”

A prison guard that should have died instead received the gift of eternal life. God’s plan for just one was complete.

There are times in our life when God detours our own destinations, our own goals and desires. It is difficult for us to understand that what we want isn’t always what God has in mind. Perhaps that one “prison guard” in your life circle is God’s plan for today. Are you ready with an answer when he asks you, “What must I do to be saved?”

We read of times in the Book of Acts when hundreds or thousands came to Christ at once. But sometimes it is just for one...