Following God’s leadership requires enough humility to change your mind and change your direction. Prayer opens to door for God to continue to adjust your plans. Do you want to be open to change? Daily quiet times create opportunities for you to seek God’s will and direction regularly. Through those times of personal devotion, God can (and often will) work to bring clarification or even a change of direction in your own ministry. Make a plan, but do not cease to pray.
Do you allow God to lead you? When Paul set out on his second missionary journey, he had an intention to move into Asia or Bithynia, but he and his traveling companions were not allowed by the Spirit of Jesus to speak in the areas they intended to go. You might imagine that they were a bit frustrated and confused. They were seeking to serve the Lord and thought they were acting in accordance with his will, but God was throwing up road blocks instead of open doors.
Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, had a plan, but God had different intentions. If you have ever been on a mission trip, you have learned that God often has different plans for your when you arrive than you anticipated. But, how can you make yourself more open to God’s leadership?
Plan Your Work
Just because God may change your plans is no excuse to be lazy. Paul and his mission team were not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs and hoping God would give them something to do. They were busy serving the Lord to the best of their ability. God’s plans were different, but in his sovereign will, God still worked within the plans of Paul. Paul’s second missionary journey took him on a reverse route from his first. As a result of that reverse route, the team was perfectly positioned to move toward Macedonia.