“Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.”
And I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. Paul's desire to visit Rome is not presumptuous personal ambition but submitted to God's sovereignty and will (thelema). The verb opened suggests that circumstances themselves—travel routes, timing, divine providence—must align according to God's direction. This deference to God's will models the submission that faith in Christ requires.
Church Fathers on Romans 1:10
“Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.” You see him painfully desiring to see them, and yet not enduring to see them contrary to what seemed good unto God, but having his longing mingled with the fear of God. For he loved them, and was eager to come to them. Yet he did not, because he loved them, desire to see them, contrary to what seemed good unto God. This is true love, not as we love who err…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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