Come over and help us

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. – Acts 16.9-10

Paul, Silas, and Timothy must have felt a little frustrated. Every time they tried to go some place the Holy Spirit shut the door to ministry. This finally came down to Troas to seek wisdom and decide where to go. Every door was closed and they couldn't find an open one. They couldn't find direction.

That is a frustrating situation to be in. But apparently they were still waiting on God and God gave them direction. The Holy Spirit used a vision of a man from Macedonia to say 'Come over the Macedonia and help us.'

Again we see the faith of these disciples - 'immediately we sought yo go to Macedonia,'  Luke wrote, 'concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.'

As soon as theses guys heard the Macedonian call they went, immediately. They went for a very specific reason, because they perceived that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia.

I don't know a whole lot about how God uses dreams and visions. I do know that from my experience they don't appear to happen very often. In the 39 years (and one day) since my salvation God has never used a vision to direct me.

Whether God still uses visions or not really makes no difference. What matters is that He still calls.

Our call doesn’t have to come from across the Aegean Sea. It may come from across the street. Are we willing to ‘immediately seek to go?’