Day 29 - A Call for Help

Acts 16:9-10 (ESV) - And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

(Read ALL of ACTS 16)

Bob worked for years as a financial advisor before he found an opportunity to help some young, unemployed men with some job training. The young men belonged to a severely depressed part of the city where unemployment was very high. With the passage of time, Bob was helping more and more young men who were referred to him, mostly through the network of a local church, which Bob eventually began attending every other weekend. It was a life he never would have imagined years earlier.

Sometimes the call of God—the summons for the next thing God wants us to do or to be committed to—comes in the form of a call from someone for help.

That is exactly what happened in a dramatic incident in the book of Acts. The apostle Paul and his fellow travelers were traveling through Asia Minor (what we know as Turkey), spreading the good news of Jesus from town to town. They were not able to travel in some regions they wanted to cover and ended up in the city of Troas. During the night, Paul had an unusual vision in a dream: a man from Macedonia summoning Paul with: “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” In obedience to the vision, they set out by sea the following day, crossing over eventually into Macedonia, and a new continent: Europe.

This historic turning point meant that, in the centuries to follow, Christianity spread to the West, through Europe, and then to the Americas. Paul was not inclined to go that way, but a plea for help changed the direction of history.

Any of us, on any given day, may hear someone say: “Could you please come here and help us?” When we react with generosity and grace we are doing the right thing in the moment. But there may come a day when one act of assistance leads us on a wholly unexpected trajectory for our lives. A call for help can be a call (of God) to help (for a long time). At the end of our lives, those are the opportunities we will remember the most.

PONDER:  Is there someone who is calling for your help at this time?

REFLECTION and DISCUSSION:
Paul and his companions shared the truth about Jesus as they traveled about. One night as Paul was sleeping in Troas he had a vision. A man was calling him to help in Macedonia. Paul responded to the dream and went. When do we hear others’ calling for help? Are we willing to respond?

Read Acts 16:9-10.  How did Paul respond to this man’s call for help? When have you needed help? Did someone help you? How can you respond when you hear others calling for help?