July 11th - Acts 16:9–10

Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Acts 16:9–10 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once. We should never put a limit on the ways in which God might choose to speak to us. Yesterday we saw God putting a block on Paul’s plans. But in today’s passage he makes it crystal clear where Paul should go next. In a vision Paul saw a man from Macedonia pleading with him to go and help. We receive no information about what this vision was like, although we might presume that it was while Paul was dreaming. I wonder how you interpret your dreams. Much of the time dreams are, in my experience, extraordinary and impossible to unravel. If I can remember mine at all beyond breakfast they still don’t seem to have any lasting significance. But dreams play an important role in many parts of the Bible and so we should definitely be open to the possibility that they can, from time to time, reveal God’s plans to us. Paul was clearly entirely sure that the vision was sent from God and so he and Silas immediately set out to Macedonia. We need God’s guidance on a continual basis. We often refer to guidance in relation to the big decisions of life – whom we should marry, our career or moving to a new area. But the truth is that every day we are making decisions about our relationships, our homes, our jobs and our purchases and so we need to live with a continual openness to God’s guidance. God will often guide us through our experience, prayer, the Perhaps in the future he will choose to speak to you through a film, a painting, a flower, a bird – or even a dream. Question In what different ways has God made clear his guidance to you? Prayer Loving Father, help me to hear your voice, however you choose to speak to me. Amen