If It Is God’s Will, May the Way Be Opened (Romans 1:8-17)
Today’s Word
[Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome]
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—
12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Background
Paul writes to a church in Rome that he has never once visited. Yet his heart had been turned toward Rome for a long time. Rome was the center of the world back then, and Paul carried a dream of bringing the gospel all the way there.
What stands out is that Paul did not desire to go to Rome in some vague way. He was already moving concretely—he had even sent coworkers like Aquila and Priscilla ahead to Rome. He had plans, and his passion burned. And yet what actually came out of his mouth was, “I pray that, if it is God’s will, the way may be opened.” His heart was already set, and still he laid that settled desire down before God.
Key Terms Made Simple
- Gospel: Literally “good news.” It is the news that Jesus has saved us.
- Witness: Someone who has seen something firsthand and can testify that it is true. Paul says God is the witness of his prayers.
- Righteousness: To be counted “right, upright” before God. Not because we have done well, but a gift God gives freely through faith.
- Gentiles: All peoples who are not Jewish. Paul saw himself as one who owed them the gospel.
Key Expressions to Notice
- “I pray that, if it is God’s will, the way may be opened” (v.10)
- Paul did not say this because he lacked the desire to go. On the contrary, no one longed for it more.
- A person full of longing laying that longing down under God’s will—this is true humility.
- “I planned many times… but have been prevented” (v.13)
- Paul, too, faced many closed doors. His plans were repeatedly frustrated.
- Yet he did not read those obstacles as failure, but received them as a season of waiting for God’s timing.
- “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (v.16)
- Even before Rome, the center of the world, his pride was the gospel.
- The gospel is not mere words but “the power of God.”
- “The righteous will live by faith” (v.17)
- A quotation of Habakkuk 2:4. The way to stand rightly before God is not our effort but faith.
Main Points of the Text
- A letter that begins with thanksgiving (v.8) — Though Paul had not yet met the believers in Rome, upon hearing of their faith he first gives thanks to God. His heart is full of affection for people.
- A prayer holding both longing and humility (vv.9-13) — Paul’s desire to go to Rome is firm. Yet he sets that settled hope before the door of “if it is God’s will.” He does not even resent the times when things did not go as planned.
- Passion born of obligation (vv.14-15) — Paul’s passion flows not from feeling but from the responsibility of one who is “in debt.” So he seeks to preach the gospel to anyone at all.
- An unashamed gospel, a life lived by faith (vv.16-17) — The one thing Paul boasts in is the gospel. And the way of life that gospel speaks of is to “live by faith.”
Applying to My Life
- Laying our longing down before God’s will — The more driven a person is to run hard toward a clear goal, the harder it is to lay that longing down before God. This is especially true when there are many paths we want to run, projects we have already set in motion, and things we feel we absolutely must do. Yet what God asks today is not our speed but “God’s will.” Like Paul, let us practice today setting our longing before God—without abandoning it, but surrendering it.
- Re-reading closed doors and waiting — Even the road by which Paul reached Rome was not the one he had planned. He was seized in Jerusalem and imprisoned in the city of Caesarea, and under Governor Felix his trial was postponed while he sat in prison for a full two years (Acts 24). For a man with such a clear goal, how frustrating and restless those two years must have been. But when the new governor Festus arrived, Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen and declared, “I appeal to Caesar (the Roman emperor)!” (Acts 25). It was precisely this appeal that brought Paul to Rome—as a prisoner, yet at the empire’s expense. The Rome he had longed for came about not through his own plans, but through a completely unexpected road that passed through imprisonment and waiting. The door blocking our way now may not be failure, but a time of preparation for God’s timing.
- Declaring it out loud — Holding something in the heart and confessing it with the mouth are different. Let us actually speak aloud with our lips: “I pray that, if it is God’s will, the way may be opened.” Especially when facing a major turning point in life, let us confess out loud that we will seek God’s will before our own plans.
Think About It
- What do you most earnestly desire right now? Can you set that longing before the door of “if it is God’s will”?
- What situation feels like a “closed door” lately? Like Paul’s two years, if you saw it not as failure but as a season of waiting for God’s timing, what would change?
- Paul was not ashamed of the gospel even before Rome, the center of the world. Where are we ashamed of the gospel, and where are we bold?
Tags: #Romans #Romans1 #Paul #ChurchInRome #GodsWill #Humility #Waiting #Gospel #PowerOfGod #LivingByFaith #RighteousByFaith #Habakkuk #Calling #Obedience #Prayer #Devotional #DailyDevotion #QuietTime #Aquila #Priscilla #Acts #AppealToCaesar
