The Team Grows

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas. During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, "Cross over to Macedonia and help us! After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelise them. Acts 16:6-10

The Holy Spirit is vitally involved with where we go and what we need to do. He knows the hearts and minds of people. He alone knows the receptivity of people. By trusting Him we can save a lot of energy by not going to a people who are not ready to hear.

Isn't it interesting that the writer, Luke, goes from third person to second person, he was now on team. He starts with: 'they' and ends with : 'we.' The team is growing, we now have Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke, and perhaps more. What a good team!

When the Holy Spirit builds a team, it is good. Today I had our office, lunch meeting. As well as teaching principles and technical knowledge, I asked each member of the team, "How are you doing?" It is amazing what you find out. One staffer is struggling at home, her husband is on dialysis and her son is playing up big time, she is stretched. One has just recovered from Thyroid cancer, one had her partner retrenched, one has challenges with his sales and me, well, challenges are a part of life, and one went home sick. Ah! Life!

Today we discussed 'default thinking.' In Christ we can't afford to rely on default thinking. The Holy Spirit is never boring, constantly on the move and willing to bring us through all our challenges. So, default thinking just won't work. Neither is locked in thinking. We must be flexible and willing to bend.