Journey Under the Lord's Will

Play This Verse Study

0:00 0:00

Scripture • World English Bible

Romans 15:22–33

WEB

²²Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you,

²³but now, no longer having any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come to you,

²⁴whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

²⁵But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints.

²⁶For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.

²⁷Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in material things.

²⁸When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

²⁹I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ.

³⁰Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

³¹that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

³²that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest.

³³Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Paul’s plans in this passage are plain and familiar: he longs to visit the Roman believers and even hopes to go on to Spain. But his current course takes a different priority—he must carry a contribution to the saints in Jerusalem and serve their needs first. Rather than insisting on his own timetable, he reorders his journey around service, the needs of the church, and what he discerns as God’s direction. He asks the Roman believers to partner with him in prayer so that his ministry in Jerusalem might be acceptable, that he might be delivered from those who oppose the gospel there, and that, by God’s will, he may come to them in joy.

This passage teaches us a few simple but deep lessons about submitting plans to God. First, faithful plans are not the same as stubborn plans. Paul still plans—he has clear hopes and goals—but he holds them with open hands. When circumstances, conviction, or the needs of others call him elsewhere, he willingly rearranges his plans to serve. Second, submission to God’s will does not mean passivity. Paul actively chooses to serve, to carry the contribution, to ask for prayer, and to arrange his travel route around accomplishing what is most urgent and right. Third, submission is communal: Paul explicitly asks for the prayers of fellow believers. He recognizes that his work depends on the prayer and support of the church and that decisions about mission and ministry are not private but shared responsibilities in the body of Christ.

For followers of Jesus today, this text invites us into a posture of humble planning: make goals, prepare, and work faithfully, but be ready to change course when God calls, to put others’ needs ahead of personal preference, and to depend on the people of God in prayer and encouragement. Submitting plans to God often looks like serving unexpected ministries, trusting God with our timing, and seeking communal discernment rather than insisting on what we want.

Finally, note Paul’s confidence: he expects that when he does come, it will be in the fullness of blessing of the gospel. Submitting our plans to God does not rob us of joy or blessing; rather, it aligns us with God’s purposes so that when God brings us where he intends, we come in blessing and rest. The benediction—may the God of peace be with you—reminds us that surrendering plans to God leads to his peace, even amid delays, detours, or opposition.

Putting Faith Into Action

Before making major plans (a move, job change, mission trip), pause to seek God’s direction: pray specifically, ask Scripture what servanthood looks like in this situation, and consult trusted Christians for counsel.
When a ministry opportunity or a need within your church disrupts your personal schedule, choose service over convenience—offer your time, finances, or skills first, trusting that God can reorder your plans for greater good.
Pray regularly for those who carry the gospel where it’s costly: commit to a specific missionary or ministry, asking God for their protection, acceptance by those they serve, and for wisdom in decisions about timing and travel.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me hold my plans with open hands. Teach me to reorder my desires when your purposes call me elsewhere. Give me a servant’s heart, faithful friends who will pray with me, and your peace when plans change. Use my life for the good of your church and the spread of your gospel. Amen.

Memory Verse

Romans 15:30 — Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, (WEB)

“Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,”

Keep Going Continue to Part 40 Honor Faithful Servants Romans · Romans 16:1–16 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Romans 15

Romans 15

World English Bible • WEB

¹Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

²Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.

³For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

⁴For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

⁵Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,

⁶that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.

⁸Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,

⁹and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

¹⁰Again he says,

¹¹Again,

¹²Again, Isaiah says,

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.

¹⁵But I write the more boldly to you in part as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God,

¹⁶that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.

¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,

¹⁹in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;

²⁰yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.

²¹But, as it is written,