People by and large, are looking for someone to follow who will guide and mentor them. Someone they can trust. Politics can often fail us in this regard. Bosses and organizational leaders may let you down from time to time also. After all, they are only human, just like we are. But what is it like to try to listen to God's voice in the midst of all the other voices out there competing for our attention? How can we allow God to faithfully guide us by His Spirit? Or to ask the question another way: how do we zero in on His voice alone.
Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Do you believe this? Do you agree that each and every one of us has been hand-crafted in order to accomplish something important for the kingdom of heaven here on Earth? I do believe it myself, and I hope you do also. It is entirely possible, however, that a creature intended for good can lose his or her way and end up performing evil. I also don't think this acts to discredit the notion that people have a special meaning and purpose from God. The Bible says that even the Devil himself used to be beautiful and lofty above all other angels, right up to the moment he pridefully rebelled against the Creator.
Bear with me a bit longer, and look at Psalm 32:8: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." This is one of God's many promises to us from the Old Testament - that if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, He will guide us along the right path with love. And so these two ideas come together quite nicely to form the following axiom: all of us have been created with purpose and meaning, and God will help guide us to complete these good works for which we were originally created This remains true as long as we stay engaged with what He is so often trying to tell us through our conscience, and through other people. It is always possible to ignore Him of course, and many people do.
This raises a question, and doubtless some of you might already be wondering this as you read along. How do we know for certain it is God that is counseling us in any given situation? It's an excellent question, especially given that false teachers abound these days. Some of us might remember that David Koresh used spiritual trust to ensnare many people into following him into the Branch Davidian cult. You may also remember it was a pretty big news story out of Waco, Texas back in 1993. Things didn't end well for those poor people, and they didn't end well for Koresh either.
The key to deciphering whether or not you are following the Holy Spirit is to stay in the Bible, and stay in fellowship with other Christian believers. Do not isolate and leave yourself vulnerable to misinterpretation. I must mention here also, that it doesn't hurt to stay in prayer with God either. Had Harold Camping (a false prophet telling people that the second coming had a set date) clung to Scripture in this way, I believe he would have seen the command in Matthew 24 telling us that no one knows the day or the hour that Jesus will return. Attempting to calculate when the end of all things will occur simply isn't possible (or Scriptural). It was a basic misstep by an extremely intelligent and charismatic individual.
Likewise, if we suspect that the spirit of God is nudging us to do something, please do run it past other believers. Feel free to ask your pastor about it. Run it by your friends in the church (people you trust, not just those who you know will agree with you automatically). Allow common sense to prevail, and wisdom to kick in. Give yourself enough time to discern what is really going on.
If it really is God guiding you, watch for little pointers and signs all around. Little nudges telling you to stay engaged, and stay with God. If you are reading the Bible and talking through Scriptural truths with fellow believers, then you are headed down the right track. Do not try to do your faith journey alone; it was never meant to be that way. Instead, open your eyes to what is going on around you, and then open your heart to what God might be telling you personally. It can be a wild ride, but it also won't violate the Bible.
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