Following the leadership of the Holy Spirit brings peace to our lives and produces fruit that brings blessings. Learning when the grace of God is on us to do what we’re called to do and not doing things of the flesh determines the type of fruit we produce. If we try to make things happen in our lives by works of the flesh, we end up frustrated in failure every time. Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us while walking in grace brings true happiness and freedom to be who God made us to be and enjoy what we do in this lifetime. It sounds so easy, but breaking free from works of the flesh and legalism can be a long, lonely walk of faith. We have become bound by rules and regulations that tie up our creativity and steal our joy. If we struggle in what we do, finding little joy and peace, surely God’s not in it. When we try to live and do things that God isn’t in, it will suck the life out of us. Works of the flesh simply means we try to do things our way, in our time, without waiting on the Lord.
Sarah and Abraham tried this in Genesis 16. They were good people who believed and worshipped God and waited most of their lives for the blessing of a child. They grew tired of waiting and took things in their own hands much like we do in our lives. Sarah devised a plan, a really stupid one at that. She gave permission for her husband and her handmaiden to be together. Then a son was born. If you don’t remember all the details of this story of love and lessons of trusting God’s timing and promises in our lives, please grab your Bible and read Genesis 16 with an open mind. The message will show how we make such messes when we try to do things our way.
It can take longer straightening out where we’ve tried to go on our own than when we wait on the Lord and do our work in His will. When the timing is right and we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will enjoy what we do and be more successful and satisfied than we ever imagined possible. How many times have we tried to do things our way when it just wouldn’t work out? God gives us signs and impressions in our hearts to help us know when to move and what to do. Waiting on the Lord, being of good courage, and knowing that He will strengthen our hearts must remain front and center in our thoughts and prayers in our walk of faith. If we are obedient and follow His leadership we won’t have to worry about failure or frustration; we will find great joy and peace in who we are. We may not like where we are and what we do, but we can’t give up, becoming depressed and distanced from our Lord and loved ones. It’s no secret when we aren’t happy. Making ourselves and others miserable — because we think we weren’t treated fairly or we made poor choices and our life is a mess — can keep us in a pit of pity where we will never again allow ourselves to be happy or close to Jesus and those we love. People don’t enjoy grumps, neither does God.
Often, we disengage when heartaches and heavy burdens hit our hearts and homes. Losing his best friend took Tom Cruise to that awful place in the movie Top Gun.. His mentor was quick to get Tom back in the air when he was grounded in pity. “Get him engaged” was the best advice and action in helping him recover from his great loss while learning to enjoy again where he was in his life and what he was gifted to do. Much of life’s journey we go it alone, ‘God and me!’ Boldly following the leadership of the Holy Spirit gives freedom from the pain of the past and helps us face each new day in faith. Life is an awesome adventure with Jesus; He looks after us and directs our paths. We must adjust and allow God to bless us where we are.
Being bound by legalism can also steal our joy at work, worship, and play, making us hate what we do. We can make a law out of anything we do, even cleaning house. How many of us have a certain way, time, and procedure we follow with our work, a perfect example is housecleaning tasks? After a holiday meal, Angel , Corie, and Rhonda accepted kitchen duty and did an awesome job, but I couldn’t believe what I was doing when everyone went home. I pulled all the glasses from my cabinet and restacked them my way.
If a friend called and asked you to join her for coffee, would you feel compelled to keep your housecleaning schedule or would you go and have a good time without feeling guilty? Do you enjoy your house or feel frustrated when you don’t keep it cleaned and decorated perfectly? Boredom and sameness can kill our joy. Be creative and enjoy what you do. I love playing and working in my house, always moving things around, bringing out old things to welcome new seasons, and doing things differently, like creative Christmas decorating. I enjoy every crook and cranny of my house, too. I’ll spend time reading and studying in our sunroom each morning for weeks, then move to my desk downstairs, write my stories sitting in bed, then go for weeks writing from my favorite chair or having prayer time in a different room each day. The freedom of being led by the Spirit is wonderful. Resisting change can bind us so tightly that we lose our zest for life. Teaching has been my lifelong passion, making learning fun and exciting my mission. Strict regulations and rules seem necessary, but can choke out creativity and enjoyment for students and teachers. Boredom and mindsets against change can affect our worship, too.
If you attended our community Thanksgiving service at First Baptist, 900 College St., you witnessed the power of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Choirs from several area churches came to share songs of praise and worship with different ministers sharing scripture and prayer. Each choir and solo had a unique style, delivered differently, but with the same message and meaning. We came together and worshipped freely and reverently, truly enjoying our time with the Lord and brothers and sisters in Christ. The sweet spirit in that place welcomed the presence of the Lord. I was deeply touched and didn’t want that service of togetherness, of spirited praise and worship to end. It can continue if we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Worship is intimate and individual; no one can say one way is the right way. It’s like stacking my dishes — I wanted them a certain way, but that wasn’t the only way or necessarily the right way. You should worship in the way that you feel is right for you, accepting change and respecting tradition. There is more than one way to offer praise and worship to our Father, but we must always focus solely on the One we honor, our Lord and Savior. It is important to us and to God that we cherish and enjoy our worship and praise, our jobs and volunteer work, our cleaning and cooking, our play time and family time. Let us give glory to God for where we are and boldly follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Let’s live our lives in obedience and submission to our Father. Then, His blessings will flow and we will have peace and joy wherever we are in our lives and wherever He leads us to go. Amen
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