“So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.”
Acts 16:10 (NLT)
God wants the gospel to go everywhere, but we cannot go everywhere individually. In Acts 16, Paul, Silas, and Timothy finish ministering in Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium. Then they go looking for new territory. They travel through modern-day Turkey and twice the Holy Spirit says “no.” The Holy Spirit blocks them from preaching in Asia and does not let them go into Bithynia.
Those two “no’s” lead them to Troas, and in Troas Paul receives the direction they needed. He sees a vision of a man in Macedonia standing there with him, pleading, “Please come over to Macedonia, where I live, and help us.” When Paul relays the vision, it says “we,” and you can feel the team moving together, listening together. Once they conclude God is calling them, they leave for Macedonia at once. They do not hesitate.
Here is what struck me: the Holy Spirit told them not only where to go, but where not to go. God wants the word to go everywhere, but not everywhere is ready and fertile for the good news. And not all fertile ground is designated for us specifically. Like Jesus taught in Matthew 13:23, there is fertile ground where the greatest harvest occurs. The Spirit knows where your seed will take root, and the Spirit knows where it will not. So listen to Holy Spirit if you want the Kingdom of God to multiply.
Today, are you willing to listen to God’s “no” twice so you can hear His “yes” once and immediately obey? Are you holding your plan so tightly it cannot be changed? Sometimes God gently leads, and sometimes there is a roadblock, an obvious turn. Either way, yield to the Holy Spirit that Jesus poured out to guide you. Trust that the Lord can direct you to the fertile ground for His work, and the specific fertile ground where you are supposed to work. Wait for the Lord’s “yes,” and just keep going.