When Giving Up Is the Best Thing

On Paul’s third missionary journey he decided to return to Jerusalem with his offering for the Christians there, but all along the way he was warned of coming danger. Focusing on the powerful verse 14 in the NIV: “When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, 'The Lord’s will be done,'” Morgan asserts that there are times when we cannot have our way or fulfill our wishes. We have to give the matter to the Lord and say, “Your will be done.” But in Paul’s case, God’s will unfolded in a way that greatly advanced the Gospel. Our God always does what is in our best long-term interests and for the far-flung cause of His Gospel and His Glory. Our greatest disappointments are overturned by divine providence, and our heartaches are—through the power of the resurrection—overruled, overturned, overridden—though we may not see it as such until eternity.