A Prosperous Journey
Paul had a great desire to go to Rome. He knew however that if such an opportunity presented itself, God would have to open up the way. His prayer that God might do this for him is given to us in Romans 1:10: “Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.” He often shows his awareness of God’s involvement in the everyday affairs of his life by the use of the expression “if the Lord (God) wills” (Acts 18:21; 1 Cor. 4:19; 16:7). We have to be careful lest we find ourselves living on the basis of human willfulness rather than the Divine will.
God’s providential will is not always according to our own wishes or desires. When Paul prayed that he might have a prosperous journey to Rome he likely had in mind a pleasant and comfortable journey. But let’s notice how God answered Paul’s prayer.
Many Hardships Endured on the Way
All was not easy. Things did not prove to be as pleasant and comfortable as Paul might have liked. After he prayed this prayer notice the kind of things that happened to him.
1. He was persecuted by the Jews. After Paul had come to Jerusalem for the last time, upon seeing him in the temple certain Jews from Asia “stirred up all the people and laid hands on him” (Acts 21:27). They accused him of teaching against the people, the law, and the temple. They also accused him of desecrating the temple by taking Gentiles into it, which they “supposed” he had done. After seizing Paul and dragging him out of the temple, they began beating him, and they set out to kill him, and would have done so, had it not been for the fact that word came to the chief captain of the band of soldiers that all of Jerusalem was in an uproar. They stopped beating Paul when they saw the chief captain and his soldiers. After
