For I do not want to see you now just in passing.  I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

1 Corinthians 16:7

As the apostle nears the end of his letter to the church at Corinth, he lets them know of his plans to “visit you after passing through Macedonia” (16:5a).  He wanted to pass through Macedonia first (16:5b), after which “perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go” (16:6).  Paul really loved the Corinthians, and hoped to be able to spend significant, quality time with them rather than see them “just in passing” (16:7a).  This itself is worth our consideration considering how 1-2 Corinthians are generally seen as Paul “bringing the hammer down” on Corinth with little love or care shown for the brethren themselves.  When we rebuke people, let’s also show them that we still love and care for them like Paul did with Corinth (cf. Gal. 6:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).

All of Paul’s plans, of course, would come to pass only “if the Lord permits” (16:7b).  In the meantime, Paul planned to “stay in Ephesus until Pentecost” (16:8) because “a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (16:9).  Paul believed in the providential will of God.

God’s revealed will is found in Scripture, of course.  That’s how we know that it is his will for us to evangelize (Matt. 28:19-20), treat others the way we would want to be treated (Matt. 7:12), repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38-39), worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24), etc.

However, God also has will about matters in our lives which he has not revealed to us in Scripture.  The Lord has not revealed his will concerning, say, whether you will eat at home or at a restaurant today or get the job for which you interviewed last week.  Such data is not found in Scripture.  He might be indifferent to these matters, he might wish that you eat at the restaurant and not get the job, he might wish that you eat at home and get the job, or his will might be other choices which have not yet presented themselves.

Whatever his will is concerning these matters, he will provide a way for it to come to pass.  To use Paul’s terminology and similar terminology used by Jesus to the church in Philadelphia and elsewhere in Scripture, the Lord would open a door (16:9; cf. Rev. 3:8; Acts 14:27; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3).  Thus, one could call his will about matters not covered in Scripture his providential will.  If God wills for something to happen in our lives, he will provide a way/open a door for it to come to pass, and it will be up to us as to whether we walk through that open door.

Paul recognized this, and also recognized that he personally did not know if God wished for him to come to Corinth for the winter.  For these reasons he stated, “…if the Lord permits.”  We also do not know what God’s will holds for us in the future.  We do not even know if God’s will is for us to survive the day (James 4:13-17).  As James wrote, “…you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:14-15).

— Jon