19For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. 20For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
Paul’s integrity in speech arises from his knowledge of Christ. The gospel message he preaches is not uncertain or ambiguous. In fact, it is unchanging (see Galatians 1:8–9 where he calls down an anathema, or curse, on any who preach a different gospel than the one he has consistently preached). He even says, “But even if we … should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached …” he himself should also be placed under an anathema.” Pretty strong words! It is on this truth, Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2), that Paul builds his life and teaching. So when it comes to relatively small things like travel plans, hardly can he be accused of being wishy-washy in his thinking. When he sets his mind to something, only a direct intervention of the Holy Spirit can redirect him (see Acts 16:6 where the Holy Spirit changed his plan on the second mission tour to go into Asia and nearby areas and instead redirected him to Macedonia, which by the way led to his evangelizing the Corinthians!).
Paul understands his plans are always contingent on the Lord’s redirection. The inspired writer James would agree:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ … Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4:15)
Yet, absent the Lord’s direct intervention, Paul assumes the Lord’s leading (or if one is to quibble, the Lord’s permission) as he lays out and executes his plans. Too often Christians today put God’s will and our desires and plans at odds. To be sure, we should not act according to the flesh. But God doesn’t always send miraculous interventions or signs to guide us. In fact, that seems to be the rare occasion. Rather, if you are living and walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:24) rather than by the flesh, you can “[d]elight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). When you desire the Lord, to please Him, then He will guide your decision-making and planning that reflect those desires as you move forward confidently, like Paul does. He doesn’t wait around for a sign but gets on the move. Once he gets moving, the Lord steers him, just as steering a moving car is easier than steering a parked one! You have to move!
Lord, I want to move for Your glory, because You are unchanging. Amen!
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