The youth group at my church meets for an hour before service every Sunday for bible study. I don't consider myself to be the best "bible studier" (as you may have read in my last blog), but I do have a desire to grow in this area. Once I found out about the pre-service bible studies, something told me that I should go.
Not knowing exactly what "Youth Group" was, this past Sunday I left my house an hour earlier than normal and headed to church for the bible study. I figured that I'm a young adult (only 29 years old) so it shouldn't be a problem for me to attend. When I got to the study, I thought that everyone there looked rather young; but, I also realize that I tend to look a lot younger than I really am, so I asked them what was Youth Group. Someone answered that it is the ministry for middle & high schoolers. #DOH! I'm out of place! I don't belong here. I'm at least 10 years older than everyone else and I really don't feel like spending an hour singing Vacation Bible School songs and reading the super hero/comic book action version of the bible! However, I didn't want to be rude so I stayed.
The group leader announced that they were continuing their study on the book of Acts. (Let me point out here that the group leader was a high school student. I thought it was pretty cool that these youngins were led by their own and they didn't wait for a young adult pastor to decide that bible studying was a good idea.) I was excited to read the book of Acts with them because that book is full of stories about the church growing, disciples performing miracles, and a bunch of faith led missions! We got to Acts 16, and this seemingly unimportant passage jumped out at me …
6-10) They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas. That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.
Paul and Silas had a mission. They were to preach the good news. This is the mission that we ALL have, but Paul & Silas didn't wait until they got a sign from God to move. They didn't stand still praying that the Lord would reveal every detail before going. No. They had a mission, developed a plan, and started moving forward with carrying out their plan. But the most important thing that I noticed in this scripture is that the Holy Spirit was with them, just like He is with us! It guided them and told them when they were getting ready to make a wrong turn. They trusted in the presence of the Holy Spirit and didn't let "their plan" get in the way of where God wanted to go. On two different occasions, the Holy Spirit took them in a direction outside of where they initially intended on going; but, they didn't allow that to discourage them or stop their mission. Just because God doesn't allow you to go where you thought you were being led to go, doesn't mean that you abort the mission altogether. No, instead you trust the Holy Spirit and allow Him to direct your steps even if it means He must close certain doors and block certain routes.
Imagine what would've happened if Paul and Silas continued going in a direction that the Holy Spirit was blocking simply because it was what they had originally planned. If you continue reading in Acts 16, you'll see that they never would've gotten arrested, and they never would've sung their way out of chains & shackles, and the jailer (and his entire household) would not have received salvation! That scripture is one of the most AMAZING testimonies in the entire book of Acts!! How many testimonies are we missing out on because we won't allow the Holy Spirit to mess with our plans? How many people will remain in chains & never hear the good news because we are waiting for the entire story or complete answer from God before making an initial step to just GO? God has already commanded us to move! When will we all learn to trust that God is with us and will never allow us stumble if we just follow Him (Psalm 121:3)?
God bringing this scripture to life for me was not the only reason why He had me attend bible study with a group of kids. The other reason was to show me how He is using this younger generation. I mean, these children LOVED the word!! So much more than I did when I was their age, and even more than I do now! They were really studying these scriptures. They were asking questions about things that were confusing, they were referencing other books and scriptures of the bible, they were talking about things that God was revealing to them, they were passionate, they were unashamed, they were bold, they were hungry, and I was jealous. There was even one guy who got up in the middle of the study and walked away for a few minutes, without announcing where he was going. When he came back, others asked where did he go. His response: "I went to give a word to this guy that the Lord was highlighting to me". WHAT??!?! I MEAN, COME ON! Personally, I probably would not have known for sure whether or not God was highlighting someone to me or not. But even if I did, I probably would've asked God to hold on a second because I don't want to disrupt the bible study. But no, these kids don't care. They want to be like the apostles and missionaries in the book of Acts. They want to be a part of bringing God's Kingdom to earth. And that's why God is using a younger generation … because they will not only say YES, but they will do YES; and even as I continue to get older, I want to be just like them. #29goingon15
