Seed Thoughts April 2015

// Lynette Hagin

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be Like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." -Isaiah 58:11 (NIV)

 

I believe that we are living in the last days. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy that these days would be difficult. Second Timothy 3:1 (Amplified) says, "But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]." It is imperative, even for our own safety, to be led by our spirit daily in these times.

My father-in-law did a lot of teaching on how to be led by your spirit. However, I believe that we have not emphasized this as much as we should have over the past few years. Although I practice this every day, I have been impressed to once again review this subject with others.

Romans 8:14 says, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." In John 16:13 we read, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

Today's world is hectic. Our lives are filled with sounds, images, and lots of noise, all fighting for our attention. Unfortunately, all of these natural distractions can get our focus off of God and the voice of the Spirit. We must fine-tune our ear to hear His voice.

I read a story about two men who were walking along a crowded city sidewalk. Suddenly one remarked, "Listen to the lovely sound of that cricket." But the other man could not hear the sound at all. He asked his friend, "How can you hear a cricket amid the roar of traffic and the sounds of people?"

The first man was a zoologist. He had trained himself to hear the sounds of nature. Instead of explaining how he could hear them, he reached into his pocket, pulled out some coins, and dropped them on the sidewalk. Suddenly, dozens of people were looking for those coins. The first man turned to his friend and said, "We hear what we listen for."

Many voices vie for our attention. And many of them would sway us away from our foundation—God's Word. Some voices tear down. Others may discourage us. Our kids hear conflicting voices. Homes are being filled with unnatural voices from Hollywood. These voices can confuse and ultimately destroy us. We cannot listen to them without being affected.

God desires to direct our lives through the Holy Spirit. He is there to communicate with us. He is always speaking, but are we tuned to His frequency? When we are driving, my husband and I listen to the radio. Often he tries to listen to a ballgame. Sometimes the signal is so weak that we can barely hear it. Other times there is so much static that we cannot understand the commentators.

God desires to communicate with us, but we must tune our ears to His frequency and remove outside interference. He is ever present to be our Guide and Comforter, to give us wisdom, and to provide whatever else we need at the moment.

Recently I could not find an item that I needed to conduct some business. I knew that it was somewhere in my house, but it was not where I usually kept it. I looked in all the places where I thought it could be. After not finding it, I prayed, "Father, You know where this item is. Holy Spirit, reveal its whereabouts to me." Then I began listening intently to hear His voice to direct my steps.

I searched for three hours. Even though I was listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit, my own spirit was getting a little anxious about not finding this item. Needing to get to the office, I decided to finish getting ready and delay the search until evening. As I brushed my teeth, suddenly the Holy Spirit said, "Look in that bag you took with you when you went out of town last week."

I ran to the bag, opened it and, praise the Lord, there was the lost item! You see, when I completely quieted my spirit, the Holy Spirit was able to speak to me and direct me right to the item. I encourage you to remove the outside voices in your life and allow the Holy Spirit to direct your every step.