The Holy Spirit and the Blocked Path

Acts 16:6-10
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

You hear a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows some men to preach great sermons, others to cast out demons, many to make it through terrible tragedy. It provided the power needed to start the church and send the Apostles to the ends of the Earth, and it allowed those same Apostles to heal in Christ's name.

What you don't hear a lot about is the obstructionist quality of the Holy Spirit; the Spirit that forbids you from preaching well, that stops particular endeavors, and that sets us off on a path entirely not of our choosing.

In the beginning of Paul's ministry, he received many lessons in both sides of the Spirit's power. Blinded by the power of the Spirit, healed by the power of the Spirit, launched into the ministry by the Spirit, and blockaded by the same Spirit.

Paul's original destination was set to be India, perhaps to the Jewish diaspora community that would later be journeyed to by the Apostle Thomas. Paul, as we well know, was a determined, resourceful man who was willing to overcome obstacles in order to achieve the goals of the ministry. Yet, in a very matter-of-fact way, we are told that the Holy Spirit blocked this path and, much like with Jonah in the Old Testament, kept closing down options until Paul reached the place he was supposed to be.

Paul found his direction in the Spirit through trial and error. Convinced of the certainty of one path, he trudged forward only to be blocked. Instead of trying to force the issue, he reassessed his mission, went forward again, and then adjusted with the next block.

A number of churches in Midian have great trouble with the obstructionist Spirit. Huge building campaigns go awry, ministries fail to start, desired populations fail to come to church, and through all of this the belief is that the Holy Spirit must be waiting on the proper show of faith before He grants the desires of the church leadership. In some cases, faith like this is rewarded, in many other cases, true faithfulness is understanding that the power of the Holy Spirit frustrates as many desires as it fulfills, and is very much in the business of changing human direction.

Pauls inconvenience led to the conversion of the Gentile world, and the eventual conversion of the Roman Empire. His realization of the Spirit's will led to the accomplishment of great feats, even amongst his own personal frustration. When we face an obstacle in Midian, we need to keep in mind that the Spirit does not always light the path He wishes us to take; sometimes He darkens all the other paths in contention.