Hindrance and Providence

“I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but this far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:13, ESV; cf. 15:22).

Paul attempted to visit the church in Rome. He was prevented to do so even though his purpose of his visit was to win some converts among the Christians in Rome and the Gentiles. In Rom. 15:23-24, 28, Paul then elaborated what he introduced in the beginning of this letter that the ultimate reason of his visit was to convince the Romans to participate in the mission of God by supporting his mission to Spain.[1]

Paul did finally arrive at Rome. But his journey to Rome was a captive one (see Acts 27:1-28:31). He did not arrive at Rome according to his own time; however, he was escorted there in God’s time. Whatever the reasons why Paul got hindered in the first place, he did not get what he prayed for in his time. Nevertheless, he always got what he prayed for only according to the divine pleasure and sovereign will. Paul’s mission was to “bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations (Rom. 1:5, ESV; also see 16:26). He planned to go to Rome with good will, but Paul was not exempted from being stopped.

In commenting on Rom. 1:13, John Calvin noted:

The Lord frequently upsets the purposes of his saints, in order to humble them, and by such humiliation to teach them to regard his Providence, that they may rely on it…The hindrances of the godly and of the unbelieving differ: the latter perceive only that they are hindered, when they are restrained by the strong hand of the Lord, so as not to be able to move; but the former are satisfied with an hindrance that arises from some approved reason; nor do they allow themselves to attempt anything beyond their duty, or contrary to edification.[2]

Paul was hindered; however, it did not stop him from pursuing God’s will in his life. He waited and submitted to God’s providence.

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[1] Acts 1:8, ESV—“…And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” In Paul’s mind, “Spain was regarded as the ‘end(s) of the earth.’” See Walter C. Kaiser Jr. Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), pp. 75-82.

[2] John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Translated and edited by John Owen. 500^th Anniversary Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009), p. 59.