On guidance of the Spirit

 

If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. 

Ecclesiastes 10 : 10  

The Holy Spirit is given to the believer at the time of new birth and accepting the Lord Jesus. His task is to simplify life and make it easier for you; and one of the roles he takes up is to be your Guide in every area of life. Jesus said in John 16:13 that he is the Spirit of truth who guides you into ALL truth. So he is an indispensable compass in the journey of life.

However, since your life compass is a Spirit, for you to be able to relate with him and get guidance signals from him, your spirit man also needs to be spiritually sensitive. Jesus also affirmed this when he said that God is a spirit, and those that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4 : 24). So, being in the spirit is an absolute requirement for seeking guidance from the Spirit of God; and operating outside this realm leads to a life of struggle, frustration and uncertainty. 

This is what the opening scripture of Ecclesiastes 10: 10 is trying to explain when it said if the iron be blunt. Putting the guidance of the Spirit into perspective, this verse would read thus : If your spirit is not sensitive [or sharp], and you do not sharpen it [by praying in the Spirit, listening and obeying his instructions], then you must put in more strength [exert more unnecessary energy]: but wisdom [listening, paying attention, being sensitive, heeding to promptings and praying in the Spirit] is profitable to direct [for direction].  So, without the guidance of the Spirit through your spiritual sensitivity, you put yourself at the risk of going through frustrating ups and downs instead of getting a clear direction from God's Spirit which makes life choices and decisions a lot easier and accurate. 

But, how do you understand how God's spirit works and recognize his voice? The first step to knowing the voice of the Spirit as a believer is through his Word. For you to recognize someone's voice, you need to have heard the person speak some words. It is the same thing with the voice of the Spirit; you get to know it through the written Word of God and it is only when you are accustomed to the words that you recognized it when he speaks with a voice. Also, it is important to know that the voice of the Spirit always agree with the written Word; They NEVER contradict themselves. This is emphasized when 1 John 5:6 said that There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost : and these three are one. So whenever you hear a voice speaking to you, always check if that word is agreement with what the word of God says; and if it doesn't, then it is not the voice of the Spirit. 

Another way the Spirit also relates with you is by sending off signals into your own spirit. Romans 8: 16 says that the Spirit itself bear witness with our spirit...' He joins himself to your spirit, and he is very quiet and gentle. His signals in your spirit may almost look like a gentle nudge, a passing whisper or a fleeting idea so much that if you are not sensitive, you may almost miss it or mistake him for your heart or your mind talking to you. That is why you may hear someone say : one mind said this to me...another mind said that to me. It's not actually that you have two minds, but it's the Spirit's signals in your heart and your mind dragging within you on an issue; and since the Spirit is not loud or  pushy and the voice of your mind is louder and more pronounced, you may get assayed by the mind. 

You need to train your spirit man and your mind on how to be quiet in order to be able to heed to the Spirit's signals. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 advises that you should study to be quiet. He guides you in a non-forceful manner and allows you the option to choose to go with your mind or with his nudge in your spirit, but also counsels you to choose right. He said, I have set before you...life and good, and death and evil..:therefore choose life, that both you and your children will live (Deut 30: 15,19). One way to know his prompting is that sometimes, you might feel this enormous sense of liberty to choose to do something, it could be so pronounced that you are almost jumping right in to it; but somehow, there is this feint cold feeling, deep down, it is so down and so feint inside of you, but you can sense it telling you not to go there or do it...now, that's his signal. It also works vice versa when everything in you is not willing to do something or go to somewhere but you just have this persisting nudge to do what your body and you mind is reluctant to do, and you don't know why...that's him! Listen and obey it, and by so doing, your spirit gets more and more sharpened to hear him clearer. 

So, in order not to expend unnecessary and unprofitable energy, trying to figure out life by yourself and wasting so much time because of the bluntness of your spirit, you need to start paying attention and obeying the voice of the Spirit...and remember, it starts with studying the Word of God; so go for it.

God bless you!