April 2023
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Waiting to See Where the Holy Spirit Leads
I summarize a few excerpts from an article from Carey Nieuwhof, along with a few of my own observations. Nieuwhof observes that in an earlier stage of his faith journey, he often waited for God's confirmation or leading. "Earlier on in my faith journey, I used to wait for "signs" from God and "confirmations" from God. It sounded very spiritual--do nothing unless God has told you to do it."
Nieuwhof points out two fallacies of this approach to Christian decision-making.
First, how does one decide when a decision is spiritual enough to wait for God and seek God's direction? When we are hungry, we pop food in the microwave. When we leave our homes, we rarely pray about it. We just go. Why are some decisions "spiritual" and others not?
Second, regardless of how good it sounds, the idea of waiting to see where God (or the Holy Spirit) leads is highly subjective. It is based on feelings. How do I know I have heard from the Holy Spirit? What if God "says" nothing? What if God or the Holy Spirit says two conflicting things to two different people involved in the decision?
I would add that waiting to hear from God or the Holy Spirit reflects a lack of confidence in the teaching and instruction of God's Word.
Nieuwhof points to a more objective way to know God's will. He describes how he reoriented decision making around a more objective approach: what does the Bible say? "I base it [decision-making] around a question that sounds something like this: Is what I am about to do the best application I know of God's Word applied to the present circumstances? ...That question...covers those times we do not naturally pray about something but probably should (Is my diet at all a reflection of Scripture's teaching that my body is God's temple?)"
A brother teaching a Bible class about the Holy Spirit began to veer into several subjective claims. Another brother challenged him, citing specific Bible passages that contradicted the teaching. The brother who was teaching responded, "The Holy Spirit led me to say those things." To which the other brother responded, "Well, the Holy Spirit told me to speak what He has said in the Bible."
To wait on God or the Spirit is highly subjective. How does one know for certain? Simply seeking the truth revealed in the Bible is far more objective. God's Word is true, regardless of our subjective feelings, moods or desires. Rather than waiting on a subjective sense of what God or the Holy Spirit may or may not want, perhaps we should pray for wisdom about how to apply God's Word. Perhaps we should seek wise counsel from mature Christians....
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You can access the entire article here: Waiting on the Holy Spirit
