By the time the apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, he had traveled over a thousand miles (Romans 15:19) and was winding down his third missionary journey.
Instead of thinking of a life of ease and leisure, he had a great desire to journey to Spain after delivering the Great Contribution in Jerusalem (Romans 15:22-27). Once he had completed this rightful recompense of Jewish Christians by their Gentile brethren, he desired to go by way of Rome to Spain (Romans 15:28). If it was God’s will, he hoped to see his Roman brethren on his journey and, if possible, be helped by them. In addition, he wanted to help them by imparting spiritual gifts so that they may be established (Romans 1:10-11).
Paul made it to Rome (Acts 28:16ff). God did make a way for him, and when Paul did arrive in Rome, “he thanked God” (Acts 28:15). No human travel agent could (or would) have done it the way God did it for Paul (see Acts 21:26-28:14), but the Lord was faithful to His promise of Acts 23:11.
There was no way Paul knew what the future held for him when he wrote the brethren in Rome. In like manner, there was no way the Christians in Rome knew what the future held for them—in less than ten years Nero’s deadly persecution of the church would be upon them. To bolster his brethren for Nero’s imminent assault, the Spirit of God moved the apostle Paul to write this epic treatise on the gospel—its glory, its power, its obligations.
When you have absorbed these truths about the gospel, you are equipped to deal with the past, the present, and the uncertain future. You are fully ready for what’s next, regardless of what it may be.
