Who is Leading You?

GPS is amazing technology!  While visiting our children in Florida I was able to drive around an unfamiliar city, never once asking direction, never lost.  The signals from satellites in orbit thousands of miles above, coupled with programming that measures time and geometry in a little device in my car, directed me to multiple destinations. Even when I missed a turn, the device just recalculated and provided an alternate route.  Back in 2007, on a trip with my Dad and Mom, I brought along my GPS device. As we drove, the ‘voice’ gave us direction. My Mom, of another generation, remarked, “What a boring job she has, just sitting there telling us where to go.”  She was even more amazed when I told her there was no ‘she’ there, just a chip in a computer generating sound.

Christian are you accepting the guidance that God promises, secure in His direction, led by His hand? Isaiah tells the people of the Lord that they can expect to “hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  (30:21)  The era of the Holy Spirit is here. Jesus said when “the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”  (John 16:13)  We who know the Lord need never feel lost, lack direction, or be fearful of the way ahead. Why? We never walk alone or without guidance.

How do we become people led by the Spirit?

There is submission.  God does not promise to lead us in our way, but He will guide us in His way.  We do not presume to program our destination and then demand that He take us there. Yes, many of us try and get frustrated when He is silent. Does submission frighten you?  Then I can tell you that you do not know the heart of the Father.  He is not capricious nor cruel. Does it sometimes appear that way? Yes, it does. We cannot understand the mysteries of life, the suffering, the disappointment.  But, if we want to be led by His hand, we must let God be God.

There is obedience.  "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives." (Galatians 5:25, NLT)  When we willingly choose to hang onto something in our life that we know is outside of the Lord’s will, we create static. In my pastoral work I have people tell me, “I just don’t know why God isn’t speaking, leading. Where is He?”  As we explore their situation, more than a few times some issue emerges where they are unwilling to follow the Spirit in obedience. That area of resistance creates a kind of cognitive dissonance. They are trying to hold two contradictory ideas in their mind and the stress blocks the leading of the Spirit.  When He urges us to change, if we desire to know the ongoing security of being led, we must obey.

There is patience.  I know it sounds so clichéd to say that God’s time is not our time, but it is basic spiritual truth!  Those things that seem so urgent to us may be of little consequence to the One who is Eternal.  Do you live in reaction to your life or in response to the Spirit?  The question is basic to knowing His guidance.  He is not just solving the problems of this moment, He is shaping you and me for the purposes that span generations and into Eternity.  Let that sink in.  You know this passage but it remains true: "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9, NLT)

Are you letting Him lead?  Do you enjoy the security of knowing that the One who knows tomorrow is holding your hand today?

This is one of the great blessings available to the people of the Lord.

Here is the word from the Word. Ponder it. Meditate in it. And may His purposes become yours, for His glory. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them. “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause." (Isaiah 55:9-12, The Message)

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Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

You call me out upon the waters,

The great unknown, where feet may fail.

And there I find You in the mystery,

In oceans deep, my faith will stand.

And I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves,

When oceans rise,

My soul will rest in Your embrace,

For I am Yours and You are mine.

Your grace abounds in deepest waters,

Your sov'reign hand will be my guide.

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me,

You've never failed and You won't start now.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.

Let me walk upon the waters,

Wherever You would call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior.

I will call upon Your name.

Keep my eyes above the waves.

My soul will rest in Your embrace.

I am Yours and You are mine!

Joel Houston | Matt Crocker | Salomon Ligthelm

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