Psalm 143:10 (NIV)
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your
good Spirit lead me on level ground.
In this psalm David prays for God to teach him God’s will.
Also David asked for the leadership of the Holy Spirit to guide him on a
righteous path of life.
Bill Hybels wrote in The Power of a Whisper, (Zondervan,
2012), pp. 54-55: [After attending a funeral] as my wife Lynne and I approached
our car, I spotted a frail, elderly woman pulling into the nearby apartment
complex. She parked her car and began to slowly and laboriously pull grocery
bags out of her trunk. "How about helping that woman with her
groceries?" the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt.
I initially brushed past the whisper because Lynne was
with me and we were ready to go. But I had just made that offer to God,
"If there is something you would like me to do …"
I knew I had to comply. "Lynne," I said,
"I've got this little pact going with God, and I need to go help that woman
with her groceries for a minute." I approached the elderly woman.
"Can I give you a hand with your groceries?" I asked. "Oh, yes!
Thank you!" she said, relieved.
The driveway leading back to her apartment … was roped
off, meaning residents had to walk a few hundred yards just to get from their
cars to their homes. I knew that this small act of kindness would honor God and
help meet a real need; what I didn't know was that those grocery sacks boasted
thirty pounds of fresh peaches each. Pretending the added weight didn't affect
me a bit, I said, "All set here. You lead the way." She began winding
through backyards that had become swamps due to recent rains. [It turns out
the] woman was extremely arthritic [and] had some sort of emphysema that forced
us to take a breather every forty-five seconds or so. It took us a full thirty
minutes to make our way to her apartment, and by the time we arrived, we were
tight. I had learned more about this dear woman's life than I could ever have
hoped to know.
We entered her modest home, and … I set the sacks on the
counter before turning to shake her hand and then let myself out through the
front door. The woman left her bony, wrinkled hand in mine long after the
handshake was done. "I will believe to my dying day that God sent you to
help me just now," she said.
The whole deal felt so inglorious—the wet feet, the
longer-than-expected trek, the lack of any earth-shattering results—and yet as
I walked away from the apartment complex, something in my spirit felt right.
God had whispered a simple instruction my way, and this time I had actually
slowed down enough to listen. There is no greater feeling in the world than to
hear—and heed—God's voice .…
I have come to believe over time that it is the little
acts of obedience that invite God's power to fully flow in our lives. When you
and I prove ourselves faithful with the small whispers, he entrusts us with
bigger ones. And when we follow through on those big ones, big kingdom results
can be gained.
As we listen to God, God will walk with us through holy
land to accomplish His will, even if the way is through wet land. Listen
carefully as God speaks through His Holy Spirit and heed His prompting.
No comments:
Post a Comment