November 4

The Leading Of The Spirit

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. — Ps 143:10 BSB

Teach me to do Your will, which means placing the responsibility for my life in Your hands. The most important thing is to be absolutely certain that you desire, above all else, to do God’s will. If you don’t feel that desire yet, at least be willing to be made willing. Cast the burden of making you willing on God, and trust that He will work it out. His people will be made willing in the day of His power. Once this is settled, the Holy Spirit will eventually teach you what He desires and enable you to do it. Like Samuel, if you say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening,” you will hear His voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” or “This is what must be said, say it,” or “This needs to be done, do it.” And as you try to obey the gentle promptings of the Spirit, you will find that strength and grace are being poured into your soul.

"Your Spirit is good." This is our only hope. Without the infinite goodness, patient gentleness, and loving forbearance of the Holy Spirit, we would have no chance. Only infinite goodness can bear with our frailties, backsliding, coldness, indifference, stubbornness, and obstinance. But because God’s Spirit is good, we can count on Him to fill us with His holy influence until our evil nature is overcome by His goodness, and we also, in some measure, become good. It was said of Barnabas that he was a “good man” because he was full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

"Lead me." The psalmist prays, “Teach me, lead me, quicken me.” Let us make this our prayer as well. What better assurance do we have of being led in the right path than to yield ourselves to our gentle, gracious Guide? We are like little children who need to be led, like a child taken by the hand and led to school and then brought back home again. Some of us are blind and need a guiding hand as we grope in the dark. Let us walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and be very sensitive to the Spirit. Then we will instinctively know God’s will and do it.

Prayer

I need a hand to lead me through the darkness, for I am weak and helpless like a child. If I walk alone, I will stumble on the wild mountains. Amen.