Listen to the Leading
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1 (New International Version, NIV)
Shortly after the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness. There was a purpose for this: so that Jesus could be tempted by the devil, and so He could overcome it. Adam was tempted by the devil and failed the temptation, rebelling against God and handing his authority over to the devil. In order for this to be undone, Jesus had to be tempted in the same way and had to be victorious over it. There was a purpose for the Holy Spirit’s leading. There is always a purpose for His leading.
The Holy Spirit is our guide and as a member of the Godhead, He has a plan and purpose for our lives. His guidance; or you could call it His leading; directs us with the steps to take to fulfill that plan. He is speaking to us and leading us every day to lead us to places and situations that will cause us to prosper and will take us to places where we can realize our potential and walk in our divine purpose. Sometimes that leading may be telling us to take big, major, life-changing steps for God. However, most of the time, the leading is for seemingly small things.
We cannot discount those small, daily directions, the leading of Holy Spirit. He may be leading you to buy a certain brand of peanut butter. He may be leading you to take a different route to work. You may sense Him leading you to sell something or to purchase something you wouldn’t normally buy. He might direct you to read a specific Scripture or He might tell you to speak to a person you rarely talk to. He might drop someone’s name in your heart and tell you to pray- or He might just tell you to pray in tongues and you don’t know who or what you are praying about. His leadings, whether big or small, are not to be ignored. Many times, following His leading can protect us from unknown danger. Other times, it is leading us to a greater fulfillment of our destiny.
Often the bigger blessing lies in the obedience to His “smaller” leadings. We must pay attention and go with what He places in our hearts. So much of the time, His leading comes in the form of a quiet desire in our hearts to do something or in an idea that just “comes to mind.” As we walk with the Holy Spirit more and more, we learn to discern when He is giving us a thought to lead us to action. For example, lately, both Jim and I have sensed the Holy Spirit leading us to sort through things in our home to eliminate unwanted items and box up those things that we want to keep but don’t often use. We think we know why He is telling us to do this, but whether we know His reason or not, it will be in our best interest to do it.
Listen to and follow His leading. Obedience to God always brings good things. Sometimes we go through some challenges in the midst of it, like Jesus did in the wilderness, but the end result is always good.
