SATURDAY August 12, 2023

A Call for Help

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Acts 16:9-10

God, in a vision at night, showed Paul His perfect will. In his mind, he saw a man of Macedonia pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul had peace; he knew the next step of his missionary journey. God gave him confirmation––it was crystal clear! The company immediately obeyed the Lord, and left for Macedonia.

Some Bible commentaries agree that the person seen in Paul’s vision was none other than Luke, a physician who lived in Macedonia. He wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts and referred to himself in the book of Acts simply as “we.” At this time, Luke must have been praying and asking God to send someone to them to help spread the Gospel to the area of Macedonia.

Think about it. This means, when we are praying for Cuba, China, and Colombia, or anywhere else in the world, God, in His sovereignty, will answer our prayers by sending someone to that place. God will faithfully answer our prayers by placing a call on the heart of a missionary to be sent there. Thank God for missionaries who answer the call of God to go!

“ ‘Not called!' did you say?’ ‘Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face—whose mercy you have professed to obey —and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”
~William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!