Acts 16:9 NASB 1977
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

A certain man!
Who is a certain man?
There is always a certain man that God divinely appoint, approve and assign for a time and season in our lives.
The phrase “a certain man was used in the KJV translation 32 times, telling us that as powerful as God is, He uses the help of certain people to accomplish His work on earth.
We don’t necessarily have to know or see the certain person that God may assign to assist us, it could be a woman or a child but what we need to grasp here is that there will always be a certain person for certain things.
All through the scriptures, we find a certain man stepping in when needed as directed by the hand of God starting in Genesis 37:15 with Joseph wandering around looking for his brothers who have moved farther north, but for a certain man, he neither know where to look and how far he would have gone. We may find a certain man appear in our lives, a situation and location for a timely purpose and season for a godly assignment.
A certain man may be a total stranger who just appears in the nick of time to aid us in whatever we need at that time. This was the case of the certain man in Mark 15:21 who was forced to carry the cross of our saviour to give Jesus a bit of respite from the weight of the cross.
A certain man!
A certain man is a person that will step in when no one else will, the ability to step in having been granted by the Lord not, particularly that the certain man can do so normally.
A certain man is the one despite their circumstances, challenges and need is moved by God to go the extra mile for another who may sometimes even be in a much better state or position than they are but for a season or circumstantial need of God’s intervention, a certain man is needed to step in.
Could you be a certain man to others?
If the Lord moves you to be a certain man for someone, are you willing to obey and go?
Gamaliel, the most prominent rabbi of his day in Acts 5:33-35 willingly obeyed the leading of God as a certain man, publicly stand up in defence of the Apostles who surely could have been imprisoned or killed.
A certain man is the one who the Lord instructs to care financially, materially, and physically for another irrespective of their situation, opinion and ideology, because ultimately whatever a certain man does is to glorify the Father. Ananias in Acts 9:10-15 will certainly testify that we wished someone else was the certain man sent to the newly converted Saul, but he obediently went as a certain man to help Paul regardless of his fear and opinion about Saul.
How would you treat those the Lord send you to as their certain man? Compassionately, kindly or with resentment and disdain?
Cornelius was a certain man who needed another certain man-Peter in Acts 10:1-10 but Peter was disdainful that God had to use a vision to overcome his prejudice.
Don’t allow yourself to miss out on being a certain man to someone and don’t let your certain man pass you by.
Shalom