His will

Paul and his companions were on their travels and when they had reached the city of Philippi in Acts 16 we read that on the Sabbath they did what was natural for them and went looking for a group of worshippers. At the riverside they found a number of women, who were praising God. Imagine how the women would have felt, they were only meeting up in the usual way when this famous apostle and his friends joined with them.

One of the women, Lydia, was a seller of purple goods and had also been baptised. She was so impressed by Paul’s teaching and his message that she urged Paul and his friends to stay with her. Imagine the conversations they would have had in the evenings!

It was the habit for these women to meet and pray. If they hadn’t bothered or decided to opt out on that day they would have missed a tremendous blessing. There is a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time, under God’s will.

As young people we used to speculate where we would be on the day of the Second Coming. Of course, we couldn’t be in church the whole time, nor did we want to be found in a place of ‘ill repute’, whatever we thought that was! We do need to be in the place where God wants us to be, whether in an unsavoury place witnessing, visiting a hospital or singing praises in church. The important thing is not the ‘where’ but being in God’s will.

A relationship with God is not meant to be transitional, it is meant to be transformational. We are not just meant to go through the motions; it is to have a deep connection with Him. This is one thing which makes Christianity different from other religions. It is a relationship with the creator of the world and the Saviour of our Souls. God doesn’t want our activities and traditions; He wants to connect with us at the deepest level.

Is our faith too self-focused? There is a tendency these days to concentrate on what we can do, not what God can do. We spend more time examining ourselves, than exploring our Saviour and His reward.