5/26 Acts 16:10

¹⁰ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy were on their way to evangelize some major cities, but the Holy Spirit impressed on them not to preach the Word to the area they had in mind. They turned another direction, but then the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7) would not allow it either. Finally, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia asking for them to come and help. The team took this as a sign from God. This is the first time in Acts that the narrative uses the first-person, "we." Luke must have joined them at this point and agreed with the vision.

Luke's account does not tell us exactly how the Holy Spirit influenced them. "The Spirit of Jesus" is simply another way to refer to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They must have all been in unity on this impression. But then Paul had a vision. Again, the account doesn't reveal how that happened. We don't know if he had a dream, if he was in a trance, or if he was wide awake. We do know they all agreed it was the Lord's direction. Perhaps we don't have the specifics because we would expect God to only work in one particular way. The important thing to see in this passage is that God can influence our spirits so that together we sense the Lord's leading. Once they knew God's direction, they were eager to see what God had in store for them there.

Are we as sensitive to the Lord's leading? In this passage we have an example of someone proposing but the Spirit interrupting and finally directing. Are we willing to proceed by faith as we listen for God's affirmations or prohibitions? Paul would go to some of the areas that he had earlier skipped over on the third mission, but that was a later time and another leading. What God forbids today, He may lead you to tomorrow when the situation is ripe.

Prayer: Lord, help me to always be waiting upon You with a heart that is sensitive to Your direction so that You might be glorified.