Theology for Everybody: Romansنموونە

We tend to focus a lot on the arrival (the destination); God tends to focus on the journey. We don’t know if Paul ever reached Spain, though it seems perhaps he did not. Sometimes there are places we want to reach, but God is more concerned with the people we’re becoming along the journey. You may not have done everything you wanted to do, but God uses circumstances to craft character into you—to make you into the person He intends for you to be. God is more concerned about who His children become along the journey than whether they achieve the outcomes or objectives they strive for.

In addition, I would encourage you to take another example from Paul’s life and follow the compass, not the clock. Do you ever set intense deadlines and nearly kill yourself to get things done by that deadline? I’ve certainly done that. I blew out my adrenal glands twice and had two intestinal ulcers. I made myself super stressed. During one season, I had a nervous eye twitch. I set deadlines that God did not set, and I drove myself in a way God did not ask. This is how so many Americans live; we’re anxious, stressed, and self-medicated. It’s not a healthy lifestyle.

Paul says, “I have longed for many years to come to you” (v. 23). He hasn’t made it yet, but he is still going in that direction. Go in the direction God has called you to, and let Him set the timing for when you arrive. Follow the Holy Spirit’s compass and let Him determine the clock. Paul wants to go to Rome and then to Spain to teach, preach, and plant churches. How is he going to do all those things? He believes the Holy Spirit is going to work, and God is going to show up.

Paul has desires and longings. He has dreams, hopes, and visions. All of this could be summarized in the word “Spain.” My question to you is, what’s your Spain? What has the Holy Spirit burdened you for? For whom or what do you have a heart? Maybe it’s even been a bit dissipated because it’s not happened as quickly as you hoped. It’s been years. You need to follow the compass, not the clock. For my family, Arizona is our Spain. We did ministry somewhere else for decades, and then God moved us here.

Is it time for you to make some plans? Is it time for you to dream some dreams? Is it time for you to take steps in the direction God has encouraged you? Paul talks about planning and provision, and there are great leadership lessons here. These are the two kinds of leaders: thought leaders have great ideas, and people leaders know how to encourage and mobilize people. People tend to think of the apostle Paul as almost exclusively a thought leader, but he’s also a people leader. Up until around chapter 11, he functions as a thought leader. He teaches a lot. In chapters 12 through 16, he’s a people leader. He’s organizing, mobilizing, and encouraging people for mission and ministry.

Today’s Reflection

What is your “Spain”? How can you follow the compass and not the clock to get there, just taking one step at a time to follow in the steps God has for you?