The Spirit Guides Us

 

We had a major water leak in our house while we were vacationing in France. The drain for our air conditioner clogged up and the water overflowed the drain pan in the attic and came through the ceiling and the floor upstairs and then through the living room ceiling downstairs. We had somebody come out and unclog the drain. He also installed a float so that the air conditioner would cut off if the water started backing up again. A few weeks later, the drain backed up again but this time we didn’t have any damage because the float kicked in and stopped the AC before things could get out of hand.

 Paul was on his second missionary journey. He and his companions were “…kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia” (Acts 16:6). Later, “they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to” (Acts 16:7). Soon afterwards, Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man asking him to come and help them. They left for Macedonia, “concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10).

 

The Holy Spirit is willing to guide us in the way we should go. He also is willing to stop us in the ways we shouldn’t go, if we are willing to listen to Him. I remember back to January, 2020. We were planning to visit Ukraine and Russia that year but, no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the arrangements to work out and I never could feel peace about the trip. I eventually decided that we needed to put off our plans. A few months later, COVID intervened and things became clear to me.

 

We have been told, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’ “ (Isaiah 30:21). We should always be in the habit of asking the Spirit for guidance in all our decisions. We should also be open to His redirection when we are heading, or about to head, in the wrong direction.  We should give Him an open invitation to speak to us and have an expectation that He will do so. Finally, we need to quiet ourselves, because the noise of the world and all our activities can drown out the quiet voice that speaks wisdom to us.