…those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. – Romans 8:14
Being led by the Spirit of God requires me to be wholehearted, vulnerable and courageous. It also requires me to be prepared.
Joshua was able to wholeheartedly follow the leading of the Spirit of God, to be vulnerable in proclaiming his commitment to following the leading of the Spirit of God and courageous in following the leading of the Spirit of God. Joshua was also prepared to follow the leading of the Spirit of God.
God prepares us to follow His leading. He gives us His Word to read, prayer to unleash His power, and others to encourage us. We choose to use these in preparation.
Several years ago during a particularly rough time in my life, I kept hearing, “Stand still. Stand still.”. Now I was in the middle of battle. I had things to fix for crying out loud. And yet, I knew I was supposed to be standing still. That I would only see the riders on the hills – God’s army fighting for me – if I stood still. In order to stand still, I had to get quiet. I had to pause.
All through the Bible we see God’s people standing still, pausing. Going out to alone places to pray. Moses, David, Daniel, John, Paul, and yes, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Psalm 5:3 declares:
“In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before You
and wait in expectation.”
In the morning I can commit my entire day to God, I am rested, the troubles of the day have yet to appear. It also happens that at my house, I am the ONLY morning person, so I have an alone space built in to where I live every single day.
Standing still, pausing, praying are all part of being prepared. They are necessary but not sufficient however.
Necessary but not sufficient is an interesting phrase that I learned in math class. In order to prove something is true, a fact may be necessary – it is required. But by itself it may not be enough – it is not sufficient. Other facts are also required. At some point enough evidence is gathered – sufficient evidence. All of the pieces together are sufficient – each piece is necessary.
So if standing still, pausing, praying are all necessary but not sufficient, then what else? What is the preparation for? For moving out and/or on.
When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He did so with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. When the pillar moved, so did the Israelites. When it stayed, so did the Israelites. They had to be prepared to move when God moved. And they had to move.
Now the Israelites could have chosen to stay put. So could many other sons of God throughout the Bible. But they didn’t. They were prepared and they moved when led by the Spirit of God.
I think about my friends TK and Jim. They sensed God preparing them for something. They did not know what. The story of how God brought each of them independently to the same point is crazy God-stuff. They unencumbered themselves so they would be ready to move out. To go. The Spirit of God led them to ministering to the children of Peru. They were prepared. And they went.
Let’s go back to Psalm 5:3, the very last line where the writer waits in expectation. God will act. He will lead us. We show up wholeheartedly, vulnerable, courageous, and prepared to move out.
Jesus shows up wholeheartedly doing the will of His Father, vulnerable to all the hate of the world, courageous to the point of death, and moving out into our lives – first as the babe in the manger, and then as the Savior on the cross.
Lord, let me choose to be led by Your Spirit with all that entails.
Just Sayin' 