This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
“I will be there. You’ve got a friend.” That Carole King song was not around when Paul wrote to the church in Rome and I hope he did not make a similar promise because by all accounts, he did not visit the church. He made it to Rome but in chains. Perhaps the church came to him. Paul concluded this letter expounding on the promises of God to the Jews and Gentiles so he knew the importance of keeping promises. This also illustrates what happens when we make plans. We make them but as James said, “you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”
In Carl’s leading of the Bible Study on Wednesday nights, we conclude on a weekly basis that God is Sovereign. Paul knew that because he had just written chapter 9 of this letter but if he did not know it, his plan to go to this church proves it. God had a plan for Paul and his submission to that plan is a lesson for us all. Today, let us all believe that, as we are tempted to make promises we cannot keep, or to make plans God did not ordain, may we gladly accept what the Lord has put in our path as his plan, not ours. And at all times, call his name out loud…
He will be there.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church