“And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ So she persuaded us.” (Acts 16:13-15)
As I surveyed the forecasted weekend weather earlier last week (which called for record highs), I knew I had a choice to make. Not having had the time to acclimate—it takes three weeks to acclimate to high heat and humidity this early in the season (after all, it was the first week of spring)—I knew that completing 110 miles at the first annual American Bottoms 100 race I had signed up for months ago would probably not be possible. So I dropped down to the 55-mile distance and wondered what God’s purpose would be.
As someone who’s been walking with the Lord for quite a while, I’ve come to learn that nearly every “redirect” in a believer’s life has a purpose—hence the reason I was anxious to see what God had planned for this one. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find out.
Not wanting to waste all the training I had put in, I was first prompted to find another 100-mile race for the following weekend, where the race director would allow my husband, aka sweet Larry, to preach a short message before the start of the event. And I found one! That meant we would have another opportunity to share the Gospel, one we hadn’t planned for. Yay, right?
But the best part was yet to come. When I messaged the Race Director at American Bottoms to drop down in distance, he confirmed that Larry would still be preaching at the start line, but he offered me the option of also sharing a message before the race at the 55-mile start, since the two events were at different times and in different locations. And of course, I said “Yes!”
So I prayed and began preparing a message I became confident was meant for someone at that race—a message God was going to great lengths to deliver.
But isn’t that just like our God?
Speaking of great lengths, Acts 16 gives us the story of a time when God, through a series of events, redirected Paul, Timothy, and Silas to Troas. It was there that Paul had a vision prompting them to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called them to preach the Gospel there. (Acts 16:10) After they had been there a few days, their mission became apparent. God had gone to great lengths to lead them to a fellow believer named Lydia:
“She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
But the story gets even better. The chapter goes on to tell us that this redirection eventually led to Silas and Paul’s imprisonment for healing a slave girl who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. (Acts 16:16) And that imprisonment then led to the conversion and baptism of the jailer and his entire family!
Does God go to great lengths for us or what?
So if you’re experiencing a redirect of your own today, rejoice and look around, my friend! God goes to great lengths to deliver the Gospel, and you don’t want to miss out on the blessing of being the one who delivers it, if He’s calling you to do so. So be ready!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that Your ways are not our ways, and that Your ways are always better than ours. Lord, when our plans don’t go as expected, help us to be filled with anticipation rather than anxiety, so that we, like Paul, might be ready and willing to go WHEREVER You call us, WHEN You call us, and to DO whatever it is You’ve called us to do. Lord, help us to always trust You, that we might never miss out on the blessings of serving You. It’s in Your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!
Melissa Sharp is an ultra runner and running coach who has completed more than 100 marathons and ultra marathons. Melissa has learned how to keep running the race of life for the glory of Christ even though she endured decades of domestic abuse. Melissa is a survivor. Through her daily blog thejoyfilledrunner she inspires others to live in the strength of Christ.
