“But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey. But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there.”
Romans 15:23-25 NLT
Paul moves on to talk about his future. He is making plans. He feels he has come to the end of his work, the extent of which we can discover in Romans 15:19b, “ … In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum”. Apparently, Illyricum was a region in North East Italy. So Paul is now looking further east, towards Spain.
There is no record of Paul getting to Spain but, as events turned out, his journey to Jerusalem was followed by a series of events that resulted in him being incarcerated in a Roman jail. The plans he was making didn’t turn our quite as he wanted, or expected. But we read in Acts 20:16, “Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost”. In Acts 16:22-23 we read, “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead”. And as Paul journeys South he takes every opportunity to touch base with all his old friends in churches he had established beforehand. In one of the meetings a prophetic scene unfolded, describing what would await him there. (Acts 21:10-12). But Paul knew what was ahead of him and he was obedient to the Holy Spirit in making the journey.
What plans are we pilgrims making? And what sort of plans are they? Paul was totally in tune with the Holy Spirit and God’s plans for his life and ministry. We see how the Spirit directed Paul in the next part of his missionary journey when we read Acts 16:6, “Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time”. So how do we make plans and carry them out? Sometimes making plans, ambitious or otherwise, is not possible, through circumstances, or because of health issues. But in the main we pilgrims have opportunities which we can develop. Our choices in life also determine the plans we can make. The subjects we study, or our attendance record at school, can determine the life-choices we have available to us when we reach adulthood. But one thing we are sure of, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants the very best for us. The much quoted verse from Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. Yes, this is quoted here out of context, but the God-principle applies across all situations and all lives. We can be reassured that God knows what He has in mind for us, and it will be all good, but to find out what that is demands a response to Him that is as living and relevant as Paul’s relationship with God was. To hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit needs prayer and carefully-tuned spiritual ears.
So we pilgrims make sure we stay close to God and particularly when there are plans to be made. The lives ahead of us have a potential that is both exciting and productive. We won’t all achieve big things, like Paul, or a modern day evangelist such as Billy Graham or Reinhardt Bonnke. Mostly, God’s plans for us involve our families and communities, our witness shining like beacons with the love and grace of God.
Dear God. Thank You that You have planned out our lives for us. Please help us to be obedient to what You want us to do, and help us to keep in step with Your timing, so that we can avoid running ahead of ourselves. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 