Moving Forward When God Says Stop

Acts 16.6-11 | Pastor Alex Huggett | 22.06.2025

Part of a series on the Book of Acts

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Transcript

We've been following the journey of Paul and his team in Acts as they take the gospel, initially to Turkey, and we're going to see the beginning of the expansion of that this morning. We're reading from Acts chapter 16, a shorter passage today, Acts chapter 16, verse 6:

"They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. They had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night, Paul had a vision in which 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 preach the gospel to them."

I wonder if you've ever felt frustrated when God seems to be saying "no" to a plan, or a plan you felt was from God doesn't seem to be working out. Well, Paul and Silas were experiencing some frustration on their second missionary journey. They had just had a painful breakup with their beloved companion Barnabas and had recruited a promising young man named Timothy. They were ready to break new ground for the gospel in what is modern Turkey. After strengthening the churches they had planted on their first missionary journey in the southern part of Turkey, they started to head west.

Understanding the Geography

Just a comment on the geography, because Roman geography can be a little confusing. Rome was an empire, and they had their own administrative districts—provinces—that crossed over what were originally ethnic boundaries or nations. It's a little bit like in Australia. We're in Western Australia, in the city of Perth, and we're on Whadjuk Noongar land. If you go out near some of the state borders, the traditional Aboriginal country crosses state borders. It's a lot like that with the Roman Empire.

So, Phrygia was a country that straddled two Roman provinces: Galatia, which you might be familiar with from the Book of Galatians, and then Asia. Asia wasn't the big continent we know today; they didn't have as broad a concept of the world as we do. Asia was a Roman province. Mysia is a small country again, within the province of Asia. And then Bithynia and Pontus is a Roman province, as is Macedonia. Don't worry, there's not going to be a test next week! This is just to hopefully put a little bit of context into the passage.

Roadblocks and Redirection

They start heading off, and it begins well enough. Phrygia was encompassed by numerous Roman provinces, including Galatia, where they had already ministered. So, going into Phrygia was a natural next step. But as they cross over, still in Phrygia but into the province of Asia, the Holy Spirit forbids them from speaking there. Hmm. Interesting.

"Okay," they might have thought, "let's head north and try a different province, Bithynia." But again, the Spirit of Jesus says, "Nope." What's going on? The gospel burns within Paul. Jesus said, "The fields are ready for harvest; pray for harvesters to go out into the harvest field." And here is a team of eager harvesters. Why is God saying "no"? And how do they know it's God anyway? We're not told exactly how God speaks to them, but we know that God uses different means, and sometimes they don't always look like what we expect.

When I was a missionary many years ago, communism had just ended in Eastern Europe, and our ship-based ministry with Operation Mobilisation went into the Black Sea. We wanted to go to some of the Eastern European countries, but we encountered roadblock after roadblock. They thought we were a cult; some wouldn't let us in. In the end, we just had to give up and make other plans. It was disappointing, but it turned out to be a God-sized opportunity, which I'll come back to in a moment.

Sometimes God does speak to us more directly. When I was a young pastor, I was exploring a position as an associate pastor in a church. Everything seemed to be lining up. But in the end, both the senior pastor and I had a strong feeling: "The Lord's saying no, this isn't to happen." I've learned to discern God's voice, often at an intuitive level—that gut feeling—and on this occasion, it was quite clear.

We're not told how Paul, Silas, and Timothy were led by the Spirit, but they were able to discern His leading. They knew God was at work. Sometimes when roadblocks come, they're a challenge that we have to push through by God's grace in faith. But in this case, they knew it was from God and not something they were to overcome. It was a clear "no, don't go there, not at this time." (As we'll see later in Acts, Paul does eventually go back into Asia and preach, but not now.)

The Divine Detour to Troas

But that didn't mean they could stand still, so they kept moving west until they went as far as they could, to the port city of Troas, which you might know better as ancient Troy. We discover that it's almost as if God had been corralling them there, because a couple of significant things happen here.

First, Troas is where Paul receives the vision of the Macedonian man. Paul is going to plant some of his most beloved churches in Macedonia, like Philippi (the letter to the Philippians just oozes with Paul's love for that church) and Thessalonians (one of the first letters he actually wrote). So, Troas was a perfect stepping-off point for that. It was a short trip across the Aegean Sea, and they were there. With such a clear word as this vision, which they knew was from God, they immediately made preparations to set off.

But there's a second reason they were there. If you read the narrative carefully, you might notice that in verse 8, Luke, the author of Acts, uses the third person: "they." But when we get to verse 10, he switches to the first person: "we." Apparently, Paul had just met his new best friend, Dr. Luke. If you're counting the word count in the New Testament, Luke wrote over a quarter—the largest single chunk of writing between his Gospel and the Book of Acts, even more than Paul. And Paul names him in three of his later letters as one of his dear companions. Can you imagine the excitement as frustration and bewilderment ("What is God doing? We can't go any further!") suddenly turn into making new friends, significant friends, and breaking new ground? "What is God doing?" becomes "God is so awesome!"

Do you ever sense God saying "no"? Could it be that He's positioning you for something better? When we were blocked on the ship from going into some of those Eastern European countries, another very unlikely opportunity actually opened up for us. The city of Izmir in Turkey, which is the ancient biblical city of Smyrna, was having an international Book Fair, and books were a big part of our ministry. We were welcomed with open arms into this Muslim city and had a great ministry there.

Trusting God's "No"

Now, I do want to pause for a moment and address the "what if." Because when God says "no," there are things that we can never know about how they would have turned out, because they never happened. In this case, "What if Paul and Silas and Timothy had gone into Asia or Bithynia?" We can only speculate. Could it be that God was keeping them from more hardship, more harm? Paul had almost been stoned to death once before. Mob violence was not uncommon in the ancient Roman world. Did God know the people of those provinces weren't quite ready yet? Or did he have plans for someone else to go there? We don't know, but when God says "no," we have to trust that He has a greater plan. Even in God's "no," sometimes there is a greater "yes."

More to the point, to be able to walk confidently in God's plan when He seems to be saying "no," and into His actual "yes," means learning to discern the voice of God. My friends, if you don't already know that voice, you can hear the voice of God because if you're a believer in Jesus, you have the Spirit of God living within you. God speaks. Can you hear His voice? There was a time in my life when I could not. And I look back and I realized God was speaking to me on occasion, very clearly, and sometimes I heeded and sometimes I didn't, but I didn't always realize that it was God speaking.

If you're not sure about hearing the voice of God, I really want to encourage you to come along to the Alpha Weekend, which is a bit about that, but more about stepping into the life of the Spirit more fully. Also, in a few months, we're holding a conference here on hearing God's voice and prophetic ministry. I really want to encourage you to come along to that as well. It'll be a Friday and Saturday here at church with Kate Lewis, who was here last year with local houses of prayer. It's an exciting journey when we start to hear God's voice in these ways. The Lord is speaking. Are we listening? Can we hear the voice of God?

God's Voice in Everyday Life

And friends, this message isn't just for pastors and missionaries and particularly spiritual people, or just in relation to ministry. God wants to speak to you about where you spend the bulk of your life: at work, at your home, with your family.

Here are some stories:

• A Christian businessman who traded in shares successfully had, as part of his strategy, spending his days praying in the Spirit and listening to the Lord. He often felt prompted to make trades based on what he felt the Lord was telling him.
• I recently listened to a wild podcast with a former American policeman who had a reputation among his colleagues for doing outlandish things as he listened to the voice of God. He told one story in particular where he'd made an arrest for a robbery, and during the arrest, another policeman from another precinct was seriously assaulted and hospitalized. As he was taking this guy off to the police station for processing, he heard the Lord telling him to let him go. He had an argument with God right there in the car! He ended up pulling the guy out, forcing the handcuffs off him, and saying, "Get out of here." What he did was legal, but it was potentially career-ending due to police politics. But as it turned out, the guy's "sob story" was actually true. To repay the officer, this man became an informant. Over the course of two years, he led to a string of arrests and busts for major crimes, to the point that even federal agencies wanted to know who his source was. The two men became good friends until it just got too dangerous for the informant.

It's not just big things like that, though. The Holy Spirit speaks into really small things in life as well. I lived in PNG when I was a teenager with my parents. In the highlands, the air is thin, and the sun is cool but also really intense. I spent a day swimming and, of course, wound up with sunburn. I'm not just talking a little bit pink; I was in agony. I had second-degree burns, blisters all over my back and neck, and it was just awful. My mum said, "Why don't we pray?" A little while later, she had this idea of using bicarb soda, wetting it down, and putting that on my back. Was it a known remedy? She thought it was God, and it sure helped a lot, so I'm going with that! Little things that God cares about.

Continuing to Listen and Obey

Honestly, I still struggle with hearing God's voice. I second-guess myself all the time. I confuse my own desires with God's; it takes a while to sort that out sometimes. But all the same, it is so freeing when you learn to walk with the Spirit like this.

And friends, I want to encourage you: if you struggle to hear the voice of the Spirit, there is so much more for you. I've spoken before about how being filled with the Spirit transformed my life, and recognizing God's voice was a part of that. Jesus said, "Ask the Father for good gifts, because he loves to give the Holy Spirit." Just ask Him.

And be encouraged, more generally, when roadblocks come and God's plans for you seem to turn to ash: when God says "no," obey Him. If He says, "Don't do that," then don't do that. But don't stop. Keep moving in Him, because it might just be that God is positioning you for something better.

Why don't we pray as Gary comes up and leads us in communion?

Father, we thank you that we have this gift of the Holy Spirit that you've given us, Father, that you walk with us. You speak to us through the Spirit. Lord, give us ears. Help us to hear more clearly, both as individuals in our families and homes, our workplaces, our communities, our church, and us corporately. So that we can avoid the things you want us not to do, and we can walk into the good things you have for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.