When I look back at the last few years of my life, especially the trials that our family has been through, I know that I wouldn’t have chosen these circumstances if I’d had things my way. Yet I’ve always kept this verse in mind:

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD (Yahweh). “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” 

While preparing a study on the first chapter of Romans, I discovered a startling, yet powerful example of this reality…

In Romans 1:9-10 Paul expressed how much he was desiring to go visit the believers in Rome. He wrote,

“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.”

 

I’m not sure if you caught it, but there was something very special about the way Paul was praying. Something even more crucial than the fact that he was praying “without ceasing”…

Paul was not only praying for a prosperous journey to come visit them, but that it would be according to the perfect timing and will of God. He trusted completely that God would make this trip happen at the best possible time and in the best possible way.

Now here’s where I discovered a connection I’d never made before. We actually have an account of this trip when it eventually did happen! It’s found in Acts 27 and 28. It’s the detailed record of Paul’s answered prayer – a prosperous trip to Rome according to the perfect timing and will of God.

 

So, how did God’s perfect will and timing of this trip eventually play out?…

Paul was a prisoner at the time. He was literally bound in chains when God planned for him to take this sea voyage, and was assigned a personal guard to travel with him and watch his every move.

Now the journey itself…. Wow. This sea voyage was as stressful, frustrating, and terrifying as it possibly could have been:

  • The weather was horrendous, and the winds were constantly blowing in the wrong direction.
  • They had to make several stops and detours, severely prolonging the length of the trip.
  •  Storms began to rage and eventually trapped them out at sea. They didn’t see the sun or stars for several days, and everyone on board was forced to go for 14 days without food.
  • When they finally caught sight of land and tried to reach it, the ship smashed against the rocks and was completely destroyed. Every man on board had to swim to shore – the weak swimmers hanging on to broken beams and ship fragments for dear life.
  • They washed ashore on a strange island they didn’t recognize, and as Paul tried to get a fire going, he was bitten on the hand by a poisonous viper.

What in the world????

 

Yes. This was the perfect will and timing of God, just as Paul had prayed for, and had trusted would come to pass. And here’s why:

  • Paul was able to have a powerful influence on the heart of his guard during the trip, to the point where this guard actually stepped in to save Paul’s life during the shipwreck. The transforming power of love was seen, and God was glorified.
  • During the amazingly terrible storm on the sea, when all hope for survival was lost, God gave Paul a message for the passengers. He told them to take heart – not a single life would be lost, but only the ship. When this indeed came to pass, and all 276 people survived the shipwreck, God was glorified.
  • A group of island natives saw the viper bite Paul, and expected him to die immediately. When he simply shook the snake off into the fire and had no reaction whatsoever, they knew that divine power was with him, and God was glorified.
  • The natives later asked Paul to lay hands on the sick father of their leader, and he was instantly healed. After this, everyone on the island with diseases came to Paul to receive healing in the name of Jesus, and God was glorified.
  • The natives were compelled to provide them with food and supplies for the remainder of their trip. A ship was found on the island to adequately replace the one that had been destroyed, and God was glorified.
  • Finally, Paul arrived at Rome, safe and sound, and God was glorified.

 

How often do we pray for “God’s will” in a situation, and then expect it to go “well” according to our own human standards? If we were in Paul’s shoes, our conditioning would cause us to expect a “prosperous journey” to be one with nice weather, smooth sailing, more than enough food to go around, and on-time arrival to our destination. Hey, maybe we’d even get an opportunity to share the gospel with someone on board! And then we would praise God for answering our prayer, and share our testimony of the wonderful trip the next week at church…

But as soon as a situation we’ve prayed about isn’t going “well”, according to our own standards, we cry out to God asking where He is and why He isn’t answering our prayer.

We feel confused and abandoned, and our faith starts to slip.

Yet Paul’s faith—even while he’d been two weeks without food, hands chained together, soaking wet, tossed to and fro on a ship about to capsize at any moment—never faltered for a moment. He could stand up before everyone and give them the message from God saying,

“I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.” (Acts 27:25)

If anyone had a right to not believe God in that moment, it was Paul! After all, he’d trusted God to grant him a prosperous trip!

 

The secret of Paul’s faith was his understanding of the Gospel, and how it transformed his mindset. He stated his belief and experience as follows:

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

During Christ’s time of ministry on this earth, while His Father in heaven loved Him more than anything, God frankly wasn’t concerned with providing Jesus earthly comforts. The Son of God spent three and a half years homeless (Luke 9:58), and was mocked, rejected, betrayed by his closest friends, brutally beaten, and eventually crucified—one of the most horrendous forms of torture available in that day. Yet in all this He was firm in His resolve –

Luke 22:42 “Not My will, but Yours [Father] be done.” 

God understood that it was necessary for His Son to suffer these things. He didn’t enjoy watching Him suffer. In fact, it caused Him more pain then we could ever imagine. But He knew that it was the only way for His Son to truly conquer all sin, having been tempted and tried in every possible way, that He may be qualified to become our faithful High Priest. Only then could Christ send the gift of His victorious human life to each one who will accept it—filling us with His conquering Spirit, that we may overcome just as He overcame.

 

Just as Jesus did, Paul surrendered his will to the Father. He truly trusted that God sees the end from the beginning, and works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Because God’s ways are so much higher than ours, it can be very difficult for us to see how He’s working when everything seems to be falling apart, but that’s where faith comes in.

Paul prayed for a prosperous journey by God’s will, not his own. And as the saying goes… Be careful what you wish for! As stressful, and terrifying, and trying as that journey was by human standards, God’s will was certainly accomplished. God didn’t want Paul to share the good news with a few passengers aboard a comfortable boat ride. He wanted to use Paul’s trip to allow hundreds of people to experience His mighty saving power. He wanted to transform the lives of the guard, the 276 passengers, and the entire island of Malta. God always sees the big picture. If we leave our lives in His hands, He will send us on whatever path will produce the greatest harvest of souls for His kingdom.

 

So when you pray for God’s will to be done in an area of your life, don’t be surprised if the waters get a bit rocky! God’s ways are truly so much higher than our ways, and He often must choose to sacrifice our current earthly comforts for the sake of eternal rewards. As one of my favourite authors said:

“God never leads His children otherwise then they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him.”

I encourage you (and me!) to trust Him absolutely, and praise Him in the midst of every storm, knowing that He’s working out something more amazing than we could even think to ask for. Allow Him to use your life as He did Paul’s, and I promise that at the end of it all, you’ll be able to look back and agree that it was 100% worth it.