“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14 NAS
From the beginning of my journey with Jesus, it has been an adventure of training myself how to be guided and directed by His Spirit. From my very earliest months of consciously following Him, I was hungry to know His will for me. I sensed that my life was not meant to be a hodgepodge of events patching together to form some sort of a life. Other religions teach the randomness of karma, either from one’s present existence or a life previously lived. This often leaves the observer filled with fear that somehow karma has been breached and disaster must ensue, OR, a hopelessness that no matter many good deeds one does, the bad karma can never be overcome.
From the beginning, I believed that God had a plan. The Spirit of God living inside me, cried out in adoption, ‘Abba!” I knew innately that just as an earthly parent has hopes and dreams for their children, so did my Heavenly Father have a dream for me. Would I make mistakes along the way? Of course I would. But, here is the amazing thing. Never, in either a right step or a wrong step, never one moment was I ever left alone.
The uniqueness of this faith that we live, is that we do NOT have to do this alone. The Spirit of the God is there, willing to guide us into all truth in so many ways. Either by the written word, which should be the guidepost and measurement of all our actions and decisions. Simply, if one is making a decision that is against the written word of God, that is not God’s will.
There are even more ways that we can be lead by the Spirit: Sometimes through open doors and sometimes through doors that shut. Also, through prayer as we tune our hearts to hear Him, to communicate with God in worship. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Father seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. There is always that wonderful balance that brings safety. Dan says when teaching on this subject, that by knowing the written Word of God, we are made ready to ‘hear’ by the Spirit, because we already know His vocabulary.
In the past decades of travel and ministry, life lived and trails blazed, packing up houses and setting up new bases, it is amazing to me how we can trace the faithful finger of God in all our goings. Even at sad times, when our hearts were breaking, we could sense the bedrock of God’s love undergirding us, and giving us the grace to proceed into our new path. Prophetic words spoken over us, as well as words from times of prayer and Bible study scribbled into many prayer journals testify to the faithful presence of His guidance.
His love and protection were and are a constant that any believer can rest their hopes upon. For the scripture promises us, that in Him we live, and move, and have our beings. What a wonderful promise! What a wonderful grace to live our lives, being Spirit led.
~ Debbie Ecker
