Spirit-led

 May 23, 2022

How can you know whether a course of action is from the leading of the Holy Spirit, or merely from your own desires, or worse, a temptation from the enemy of our souls? In Men’s Bible Study tonight, we were looking at Paul’s Macedonian call in Acts 16. Luke relates that Paul tried twice to go east into Asia (Minor), but was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit.” My question is, “What actually happened that Paul interpreted as the Holy Spirit putting the brakes on his plans?” The Bible doesn’t say, so we are left to wonder, not only for Paul, but for ourselves.

I’ve often heard people tell of being led by the Holy Spirit to say or do this or that; there are plenty of times I can agree with their understanding of the situation, but there are also times when people have made that claim and I say to myself, “I don’t think so.” Part of the problem is that success isn’t the measure of God’s plan at any particular time. 

In the 17th chapter, Paul is alone in Athens, waiting for the rest of his team to arrive. It says he was troubled in his spirit by all the idolatry he saw, so he went to the place where all the philosophers met to talk philosophy, and reasoned with them, speaking their philosophical language. They listened politely until he spoke of the resurrection and judgment to come. These words were met with less than enthusiasm. There is no Biblical record of a church being founded in Athens. He then went to Corinth where he testified that he came in weakness and trembling, not with words of wisdom, but solely with the message of the Cross (1 Corinthians 2). His work in Athens was pretty much a failure, but he learned from it, and had great success in Corinth. Failure is not always failure.

As we studied together, Kent made an important observation. The account recorded in Acts was written some time after the fact; sometimes we only know God’s plan for certain when we look back in retrospect. We pray, we study Scripture, we counsel together, think things through, and make the best decision we can. Sometimes it works out gloriously; sometimes it blows up in our face. Either result can be the work of the Holy Spirit. I’ve had successes that I knew were the work of God because there is no way I was smart enough to pull it off. There were other times everything fell apart, but the failure humbled me and paved the way for God to do a work in and through me that wouldn’t have otherwise happened.

My point in everything tonight was merely that we need to put ourselves into the Biblical story so it doesn’t become for us merely quaint and interesting tales. This Book was written for our benefit, to lead us to faith in Christ and eternal life. If we keep it at arm’s length, it never gets the chance to do its work in us. How did Paul know those obstacles to Asia were the work of the Holy Spirit? Maybe he didn’t, until later when he could look back on that experience and say to himself, “God was in this.” How do we know the leading of the Holy Spirit today? Maybe not until we look back and see the hand of God that explains the unexplainable in our lives.