Planned and Prayed for, but Prevented
Devotions for Growing Christians
Planned and Prayed for, but Prevented
Romans 1:10-13 - “One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity... to come at last to see you… I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now.”
Romans 15:22-24 - “My visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.”
Read Romans 15:17-33.
Have you ever planned and prayed over a trip or a big event, but then something popped up and your plans were ruined? What a disappointment! Sometimes we even get angry with God. He should have been able to keep our plans intact, right? What happened?
It's hard enough when our “fun plans” fizzle out, but when our serious plans for the Lord's work fall through, it can be very tough to understand. In situations that involve our earthly happiness, we can appreciate the fact that God's "thoughts and ways are higher than ours" (Isaiah 55:9). But what about canceled mission trips, ministry opportunities, or even small church events? Why would the Lord allow it to rain on the day of our church picnic?! What’s the biblical answer when our good and godly plans don’t work out?
Points to consider
First of all, we need to remember to look at the successes. Very often our prayed-for plans DO work exactly as we hoped and envisioned. Don’t let the occasional times when our plans fall through make us forget to thank the Lord for the many successes in our past. It's easy to take the Lord’s goodness for granted when our answered prayers are standard operating procedure.
Another thing to keep in mind is motives. Even though we may be planning and praying for the Lord's work, there may be some hidden agendas that we may not even realize. The short-term mission trip we planned may actually be a way to get away from responsibilities at home, or to enjoy a “free trip” to a unique destination. Or do our plans involve service opportunities that put us into the church spotlight? If our motives are not pure, God might disrupt our plans to help us get our priorities straightened out.
One final point to keep in mind is our reaction to prevented plans. When things don't work out the way we expected, we shouldn’t automatically assume that we've done something wrong. Prevention is one way the Lord guides us. We should continue to pray and revise our plans.
Let’s look at a few biblical examples of plans that didn’t work out.
King David and the Temple
King David had great intentions to build a Temple for the Lord (2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17), and God even commended David for his plans (1 Kings 8:18). But David never got to carry out his building plans. Why? His ideas weren’t selfish or ungodly, but the Lord planned for King Solomon to build the Temple in a time of peace.
When David’s plans were prevented, he accepted, adjusted, and adapted to God's design. Instead of getting angry or bitter towards God, David worshiped the Lord, and then he revised his plans. He collected building materials for the Temple (1 Chronicles 22). He organized the priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers for Temple service (1 Chronicles 23-26). He shared the Temple blueprints with Solomon (1 Chronicles 28). And he gave unselfishly to the Temple project (1 Chronicles 29). If God prevents our plans, we should follow David’s acknowledgement of God’s will, and his generous example.
Paul’s visit to Rome
In a New Testament case of godly plans being prevented, Paul had set his heart on visiting Rome. He wasn’t going as a tourist, to see the Sistine Chapel or throw coins in Trevi Fountain. His plans were to teach and build up believers in the Christian faith (1:11-12), and spread the Gospel in the capital city of the pagan Roman Empire (1:14-15).
There were no selfish motives in Paul’s agenda - in fact, quite the opposite! Paul would be putting his own life at risk in a region that was hostile to the spread of Christianity. Paul had prayed about these plans many times (v10), but he had been prevented from going. Why?
We don’t know all the reasons why the Lord continually delayed Paul’s trip. However, the New Testament gives us enough information about his itinerary to piece together some reasons.
1. Other ministries
In Romans 15:22, Paul indicated that he hadn’t been able to make the trip to Rome due to extensive missionary work in other areas. God was working "all things together for good” (Romans 8:28) because the gospel was being proclaimed in new areas.
Acts 16:6-7 tells us that prevention was one of the ways the Lord directed Paul on his missionary journeys: "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. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there” [emphasis added].
Although Paul didn’t know it until he got to Troas, God plans for him were to sail across the Adriatic Sea and spread the gospel in Macedonia. In our lives today, our good plans for the Lord's work may be prevented because God is guiding us into other areas of ministry.
2. Was Satan involved?
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, "We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us."
Satan can hinder our plans for the Lord's work, but he can only be successful if God allows it. If God does allow Satan to thwart our plans, we know the Lord is still “working all things together for good.” It may be a test of our faith (as in Job’s life), or it may be the Lord's way to guide us in our service (as in Paul’s life). Remember, God is in control of every situation, and He can overrule and overthrow any of Satan's strategies and tactics.
3. Different opportunities
Paul's initial plans for going to Rome had already been revised to a brief stop while passing through from Jerusalem to Spain (Roman 15:23-24). Of course we know that even these revised plans never happened because Paul was arrested in Jerusalem. It’s hard to understand why the Lord allowed his subsequent imprisonment in the Israeli city of Caesarea for almost 2 years, especially in view of Paul's earnest prayers. But Acts 22-26 gives us some insight as to why God changed Paul's plans. As a result of his arrest and imprisonment, Paul had the opportunity to:
- publicly address the multitudes in Jerusalem (Acts 22)
- officially witness to the Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jews (Acts 23)
- boldly testify before the Roman rulers, Antonius Felix and Porcius Festus (Acts 24-25)
- give a defense of the Christian faith directly to King Herod Agrippa II.
Let’s not be surprised if God gives us some amazing opportunities when our plans for the His work are prevented from happening!
4. Luke
Luke was Paul's co-worker and traveled with him before and after his arrest. So what was Luke doing while Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea? Most likely he used this time to collect data, interview disciples, and “investigate everything” for the two books of Scripture he would write (Luke 1:1-3). Remember, Luke was from Asia, so he probably used this time to interview the eyewitnesses of all the events that God would inspire him to record in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.
God clearly allowed other good things to happen as a result of Paul's thwarted plans. We may not ever know all the unseen blessings that are taking place when our good plans are prevented. But we know that God has it all under control. "How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways" (Romans 11:33).
Paul arrives in Rome
Paul did eventually get to Rome - as a prisoner! He certainly hadn’t planned it that way. For two more years he lived under house arrest in Rome while his case was being resolved. During this time, he was chained to a Roman guard. What possible good could come out of this disruption of his plans?
Philippians 1:12-14 gives us two good reasons:
- Paul's predicament brought the gospel into the ranks of the imperial Roman guards. How long do you think you could be chained to Paul before hearing the gospel? Talk about a “captive audience”! Through this imperial channel, the gospel very possibly reached the servants and employees of Caesar himself (Philippians 4:22.)
- Many Christians who heard of Paul's imprisonment were emboldened to spread the Word. Paul's ordeal greatly encouraged other Christians to witness and serve with even more fervor.
Let's not forget that Paul wrote four New Testament books during his imprisonment in Rome! We can be eternally grateful that God changed Paul's busy travel plans so he had time to write the epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.
The next time our plans for serving the Lord are prevented from happening, let's remember that God may have other plans to bring about great blessing for us and for others!
- Dave Reid
(Updated 2021, Ron Reid)