It is common Christian experience for
our lives not to work out quite as we expect. At any point in life, we will
usually have ideas about how we think God will lead and use us in the future.
But when the time comes, things often turn out differently from what we
envisaged.
This can be a real source of
discouragement, especially if we thought that the Lord had spoken to us about
how He was going to use us, and then we find that this doesn’t happen.
The apostle Paul’s example
One of the reasons God has given us the
Bible is so that we can be encouraged by the lives of saints who lived long ago.
And Scripture makes it clear that God’s people in biblical times also knew what
it was like for things to happen that they didn’t expect.
The apostle Paul’s life is a good
example of this. Because he wrote so much of the New Testament and because Luke
writes so much about him in Acts, we know a lot about his life. And there is no
doubt that in some significant ways, things happened to him that he didn’t anticipate.
On many occasions Paul’s Christian work
was delayed or interrupted. There were also times when he had to abandon his
plans. But on the other hand there were ways in which God used him that he almost
certainly never foresaw.
Delays, interruptions and failed plans in Paul’s life
Paul knew that God had called him to
spread the gospel message and teach Christians (Romans 11:13; 2 Corinthians
10:8; Galatians 1:15-17). And so this is what he put his energy into.
However, things frequently got in the
way of his work.
For example, he often found himself in
prison (Acts 21:33-28:31; 2 Cor 6:5; 11:23; Phil 1:7-30; etc.), where his
ability to share the good news was usually very limited.
There were also times when he had to
get “an ordinary job,” so that he could earn money to live on (Acts 18:3; 1
Thessalonians 2:9). We can easily imagine that he would have much preferred not
to spend precious time doing this.
There were occasions too when Paul made
plans that had to be postponed through no fault of his own. For example, 1
Thessalonians 2:18 tells us that more than once he
was prevented by Satan from visiting the young church in Thessalonica.
Romans 15:22-32 is also quite
revealing. In this passage Paul tells the Roman Christians that he is planning
to come and see them on his way to Spain. However, he says that before he can do
this he needs to go to Jerusalem Judea and that the Jerusalem church will be pleased with
his gift, so that he will be able to come to the Romans and be refreshed by them.
This prayer was apparently only
partially answered positively. When Paul arrived in Judea, he was arrested and
spent time in prison (Acts 21:33 -26:32).
If the most natural interpretation of Acts 24:27 is the correct one, this
imprisonment lasted for no less than two years!
It is true that he was
delivered from being killed in Judea. But he was not protected from being
beaten or imprisoned. What is more, it is not certain that the Jerusalem
There is no doubt, then,
that things often didn’t run smoothly for Paul. There were delays and interruptions
to his work, and some of his plans failed to materialise.
God used Paul in ways he never imagined
Nevertheless, Paul fulfilled
his calling. God used him in bringing many Gentiles to faith, and more than a
few Jews too. And he was able to use his great insights to strengthen those who
were already believers.
Furthermore, there is one
way in which Paul was used by God that would almost certainly have been beyond
his wildest dreams: his letters.
Some Christians tend to
think that Paul knew he was writing Scripture when he wrote his letters that
ended up in the New Testament. However, this is extremely implausible. In
Paul’s day Christians thought that Jesus would very probably return soon to
earth (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). They didn’t expect that the New
Testament would ever exist or be needed.
Besides, the obscurity of
much in Paul’s letters also shows that he didn’t think that many of them would
be read by a wide audience. There are many passages where it is difficult for
us to figure out exactly what he is referring to. And the reason for this is
surely that he saw no need to explain the context, since he knew that his
readers knew the context and he wasn’t expecting anyone without that knowledge
to read what he wrote.
So it is almost certain
that Paul went to his grave without any idea that the letters he wrote, some of
them in prison, would end up being used by God so greatly. And the amount that they
have been used is absolutely enormous. Countless millions of Christians have
studied and meditated on them for the best part of two millennia.
Taking encouragement from Paul’s example
In 2 Corinthians 4:8 Paul
refers to himself as “perplexed but not in despair.” How right he was not to
despair! He may have been perplexed, but God was using him massively in His
service, and he was on track for everlasting blessedness after death.
When things happen in our
lives that discourage and puzzle us, then, we should all take a leaf out of
Paul’s book. Just because things don’t turn out as we expect doesn’t mean that the
Lord isn’t working out His purposes through us.
If circumstances arise that
prevent us doing what we expected to do, we need to take courage and fight the
good fight as best we can from where we are at. Of course, if we are still
convinced that He is calling us to do what we first expected, we must do everything
we can to get into that work. But if there are delays or if things don’t work
out as we thought, we should still expect God to use us in other ways. Maybe,
like Paul, we might achieve great things for Him in ways that we never
anticipated.
See also:
