Not Indecisive, But Spirit-led

Yesterday, I team taught with two of our elders: Bob Smith and Bill Starr. The message was on the calling, the commitments, and the qualifications for elders.

Both of the elders said things that were unplanned that really grabbed me. It reminded me how the Holy Spirit works in preaching and in life. The Lord has a way of getting messages to us and through us that may seem inefficient in our fast paced electronic world, but God's way works quite well.

Bill Starr shared a situation that we as an elder team recently dealt with concerning a staffing issue. We had prepared, prayed, and met about what we were going to do and agreed with a certain direction. That night Bill did not sleep well. He informed us that he was not comfortable with the decision. We had a meeting with the personnel team the next night and at the beginning of the meeting they shared the same reluctance. It turned out that everybody was of the same mind and got the same idea at about the same time.

In the message yesterday Bill said of the elders, "Please don't think we are indecisive. Know that we are Spirit-led and are always open to whatever He has for us."

As Christians, we must learn to live according to the Spirit and allow Him to lead us. This is not as mystical as many might think. The Bible is filled with directives that when followed provide the path God desires us to walk in life. On that path God will also steer us in very real normal ways toward our destiny.

God's direction for us will not always seem reasonable. I think about Jesus being led into the desert by the Spirit after His baptism (Matthew 4:1) and Philip being led away from a revival in Samaria to minister to a single Ethiopian (Acts 8). From a worldly perspective I would have wanted to have a party for Jesus and wanted to stay in Samaria where God was doing a great work.

God's ways are not our ways, but His way is The Way and we would do well to get our lives in line with God's will through obedience to the Bible and then wait for the Spirit of God to direct us in the details. The path might seem odd at times, but the outcome will delight. What He has done in the past through those we read about in Scripture, God will do again through His people today - Hebrews 13:7–8 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.