Stay In Your Place

The book of Acts records in the 16th chapter a situation when the Apostle Paul and his crew traveled through a region near Galatia. The bible makes it clear in this passage that Paul and his partners would have preferred to travel to Asia; 

 "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to..."

Acts 16:6-7 

The King James Version of this scripture says the men were “forbidden” by the Holy Spirit to go in the direction they originally chose. So, because of the guiding of the Holy Spirit, they traveled  away from Asia and by all indications, at first, they had no idea why. But eventually, Paul was given a vision that explained to him why his party had been driven in the direction they were traveling. 

 "During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, Come over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had seen the vision; we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them..."

Acts 16:10

The bible makes it clear that, as you know, these men were not traveling on vacation. Paul and his associates were on a mission.  When he traveled, he carried with him the gospel of Jesus Christ; a message that he had every intention of preaching no matter the place or atmosphere.

The question is, why were the men not permitted to travel to the province of Asia as they would have preferred? Was it that they couldn't spread the gospel in Asia?

Answer: No, they could have ministered in Asia. But there was another place God wanted the men to go. 

God was sending them to the place HE had need of them to be. So, while they would have preferred Asia, the guiding of the Holy Spirit led them 156 miles by sea to Macedonia. If you read on in this chapter, (around verse 23) you’ll find that the shortly after the men arrived in Macedonia, Paul and Silas where severely beaten up and placed into jail on trumped-up charges. 

The next question is, was that their place? Was jail the place where God wanted them to be?

Answer: Yes, jail was exactly where God needed them to be. Jail was their place at that time. 

They were on direct orders from the Lord Himself to preach the gospel which, in turn, landed them in trouble with the government of Macedonia and ultimately sentenced to imprisonment. But, if they had not gone through the beatings and the jail time, they would not have been able to witness the revelation of God’s power in their "Midnight Experience" (verse 25) which we still marvel when reading some 2,000 years later. 

In Paul and Silas' midnight experience, as they prayed and sang hymns, God shook the foundation of the prison causing the doors to all swing wide open.  And even then, when they appeared to have been set free, Paul knew to stay in that place until God told him to move.  Had Paul and Silas left the prison, the jailer would have committed suicide that night, or been murdered by the jail owners the next day.  

The place God called Paul and his travelers to held great turmoil for the men;nevertheless, it was the correct place for them to be.  This shows us that the presence of turmoil does not determine whether the place you are headed is the correct place. In fact, sometimes, the presence of turmoil can confirm to you that you are indeed headed to the right place. 

It’s the lack of provision, lack of instruction and lack of peace you have to watch out for.  In your place there will be trouble, but it is only in your place you will find protection, promotion and guidance as well as victory over the trouble.

So don’t concern yourself with what your place can't offer you.  Don’t judge the place God has sent you to by the way it looks or the amount of support you may or may not find in that place. Instead, find the reason God has placed you there and focus on what you can do for God and for someone else while you are in your place until it is time for you to move. God led you to this place because he has need of you here.  You need to be in this place in obedience to Him. If you take care of God’s agenda first, He will be faithful to take care of your agenda; i.e. the place in life you would prefer to be.

Your protection is in this place. Your provision is in this place.  Your productivity is in this place. Your promotion is in this place. Your peace is in this place. The place where God wants you is the best place for you. God will direct you to where you should be and keep in position for as long as you should be there.  Then, by the His Holy Spirit, He will move you to the next place He has need of you to be in the way that He wants you to move when He wants you to move there.  And there you will stay until it is time to move again. Period.