Stewardship Article

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
By Diana Kennedy


Text:  Acts 16: 9-15

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.’ When he had seen the vision we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.

HOW OFTEN HAVE WE HEARD PEOPLE SAY that they’ve ended up in a place they never expected (or even wanted) to go? Not only that, but it’s turned out to be the right place at the right time - an unexpected blessing and sign of God’s providential leading. Paul and Silas hadn’t planned on going to Macedonia, but Paul’s vision of the old man of Macedonia delivered a clear message from God - at least that’s how Paul interpreted it. Paul was bringing a new “commodity” to Macedonia: the good news about Jesus Christ.

When Paul and Silas went outside the city gates and down to the river to pray they found a group of women, one of whom a wealthy trader in cloth became the first candidate for conversion in their endeavor. This is an unexpected event; it may have even been a frustration for Paul. He probably hadn’t come this far to end up outside the city gates with a group of women as his only audience. How could he have known that this was what God wanted for him and that these “surprises” would be an unexpected blessing.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: When have your plans been frustrated? How did you see God at work when you ended up where you didn’t expect to go?

PRAYER: God of surprises, keep us open to the unexpected and give us the wisdom to surrender our well-thought plans to your control. Amen.