God Willing!

"They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind. While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. ²⁰ They asked him to stay longer, but he declined. ²¹ As he left, however, he said, “I will come back later, God willing.”  Then he set sail from Ephesus." ~Acts 18:19-21 NLT

Just an observation this morning as I read through today's devotional. In this simple interaction in the 18th chapter of the book concerning the birth of the Mission of God in the world we see Paul use a phrase that is very familiar to many people of faith!

"I will come back later, God willing." v.21a

When I first came to faith I thought this was a very peculiar saying to say the least. And I have often wondered IF this was actually in the bible. Well, wonder no more here it is in Paul's own words as he responds to the Jews in Ephesus.

I guess "WHY" I found this a peculiar saying as it seemed to give a lot of power to God in that we are not even in control of where we go and when we go OR to draw the thought out further we are not in control of anything in this life time.

Now, I guess I can be taking this to the extreme OR maybe not! You see, the reality is in this verse Paul is saying that "IF" God WILLS it he would one day return to the people in Ephesus. Now, I don't know about the fullness of the reality of this in that I do believe there is more free will than this in our world and in the way in which God interacts with us on this thing called the journey of life and faith.

BUT in a whole other sense, there is much truth to this statement. The truth is, our days are numbered, our lives are limited, and our God only knows the fullness of those days. So, in many ways Paul is totally living out a theological truth in this statement!

HOWEVER, and maybe this is just my thing and that is living FULLY in this kind of reality is very challenging! WHY? Because it can also be taken to an extreme where we DO nothing because we believe that God is the one who is in FULL control of our lives and He is the one who will determine everything that occurs including when and where we find ourselves in the journey of life and faith.

BUT here's the thing! What about many of the things that occur even within the scriptures. Like the disobedience and lack of trust of Adam and Eve. Did God determine that they would be in the location in the Garden where they would be tempted to walk away from their TRUST in Him? Or what about all the stuff that Satan through at Job? Did God have a fullness of control over all those things and where Job would be so that Satan could have his will with him? What about the accident that takes a life in a drunk driving incident today? What about the actions of a teenager that puts them in a place where they are introduced to drugs and so much more? Is God behind all that?

You know, I know God is in control and He is certainly working out the promise found in Romans 8:28-29 but the key is in the words... "He is working out"! You see, God is at work in our lives and in this world for His plans and purposes which ultimately is to draw all unto Himself. But I don't ever think God is at work like some kind of grand puppeteer. God is at work in our lives and He works things out according to His Will but He is NOT some kind of controlling deity who has sadistically numbered every moment of our lives in a way that is pre-determined to the point that His Will controls every moment of our lives!

BUT then again I may be totally wrong about all this and one day I will be corrected or be given a fullness of understanding on that day when I come face-to-face with Jesus!

Until that day, God willing, I will continue to SEEK Him and His Will in the days I have ahead of me!

Rev Trev