Directed by the Holy Spirit

Does the Holy Spirit guide and direct you? Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit is very serious business. Rushing through life or failing to listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit prohibits us from receiving the Spirit’s comfort, assurance, and beckoning. 

Listening, even casually, for the prompting of the Holy Spirit opens the door to prevent us from substituting what we want and desire from what God desires for us. I find myself constantly tempted to substitute my will for God’s will.  I want to see things happen.  I want us to get on with the task.  Why should we be standing around moving from one foot to the other but failing to make forward motion?  God gave us a task!  It is not okay for us to rely on ourselves rather than following the Holy Spirit. 

Waiting for the Holy Spirit takes time (not that God is not moving and acting). The disciples waited in Jerusalem for fifty days, fasting and praying. Following the prompting of the Holy Spirit requires us to look closely at our own actions and our own motivation. For instance, do I feel propelled toward a new way of worship because it is what I want and desire? Do I resist proposed changes because I do not wish to change? Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit is difficult work.  We may go where we would prefer to avoid.

The past few weeks have been difficult for me. One of our Cabinet devotionals encouraged us to select a “beanie baby” from a bag and share why we had selected that particular toy and what was God’s message to us. I wanted to refuse to participate. I do not enjoy silly games that I did not initiate and control. Besides all of that, someone else picked the “beanie baby” I really wanted and they would not release it to me. The one toy that remained was a cute dinosaur. I reluctantly picked it up, held it in my hands and hoped they would forget I had not reported like everyone else—no such luck. I began, “I chose the dinosaur because I sometimes feel like the world passed me by. Being a leader in the church is so very different from when I began my ministry. Leading the Church requires skills, abilities, and understanding that I may not possess, much less comprehend how to effectively use.” 

I thought of Moses taking off his shoes before that burning bush and hearing God say, “Moses, go down to Egypt and let my people go.” Moses argued with God. He did not know how to accomplish the task. He was slow of speech. The people would not listen to him. God did not budge an inch. “Moses, I have work for you to do.” Those were not exactly God’s words, but it meant the same thing. “Moses, I have work for you. Get to work.” Moses found it hard to listen to the Holy Spirit because the words were strange and the future prospects for safely achieving the stated objective incomprehensible. 

I often feel that way. I prefer to proclaim that I do not know what God wants or expects. I prefer to be a dinosaur who cannot adapt or change to do the “master’s will.”

Listening, really listening requires me to open myself to the presence and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, to go places I have never gone before, and to perform tasks in ways I have never attempted before. Instead, my fears cry out, “Turn up the volume of the distraction around me that the prompting of the Holy Spirit may be lost in the clanging of this world’s loud clashing cymbals.” That way I can rightfully proclaim that I never heard our Lord. I did not know what God wanted me to do.

Opening myself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is difficult. It is worth the effort. Let the Holy Spirit guide and direct you!

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