The Holy Spirit Enables Believers to Discern God's Will

What does God expect me to do? What is my ministry? How can I best serve God and others? We will probably never see in advance all of how God wants to use our earthly lives for His glory. The threads of thousands of faithful days strung together weave the cloth of a faithful life. The better question is what does God want me to do today?

We know that better at the end of the day than at the beginning. We must follow God’s implanted sense of what we should do. We say yes, especially to each day’s opportunities which use our God-given gifts to serve others.

Earlier today a person in South Africa asked me through Facebook Messenger to give a prophecy concerning her present situation. I responded that it was not a gift God had given me.

Almost daily people request money from me through Facebook Messenger. I tell them I am sorry, but my ministry is to provide free spiritual resources for Christians at my own expense. We love best when we use our spiritual gifts to bless others.

We do it with all our heart and might. There is no sense of obsessing about the big picture of where all this serving is headed. That is too big for us to comprehend. It’s God’s department.

Allow me to illustrate. After retiring in November 2018, I felt compelled to write what God had taught me in my years of walking with Him. It began with a single blog. Almost no one noticed it. I posted two blogs each week on Facebook for more than two years.

Often God inspired the next topic as I lay in bed the hour or so before it was time to get up. I had no idea what the final product would be, who would benefit from it, or how.

My writing was like table tennis. I played the game best when I didn’t worry about the final score. I focused on hitting each shot as well as I could.

In hindsight, God has used those organized blogs to bring thousands of people to faith in Christ in at least three African countries and to ground them in their faith. My part was writing one blog at a time as well as I could. God did the rest in ways I never could have imagined.

We can see God’s one-day-at-a-time-leading in Acts 8:39. After Philip baptized the eunuch, the Spirit snatched him away. While Peter puzzled over a vision from God, the Holy Spirit informed him three men were looking for him and he was to go with them. That led to his next ministry assignment—taking the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:19, 11:12).

While prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch were worshipping God and fasting, the Spirit told them to “appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2 NLT). This would be the first step in the Spirit’s sending them on their missionary journeys (Acts 13:4). The Spirit led them one day at a time.

Paul and Silas traveled through Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit didn’t allow them to preach the gospel at that time in the provinces of Asia or in Bithynia. The Spirit thwarted their plans (Acts 16:6–7). God has also closed ministry doors in places I badly wanted to serve.

The Apostle Paul felt the wind of God-given compulsion in his sails to go to Macedonia, Achaia, Rome, and Jerusalem (Acts 19:21, 20:22). He didn’t know what awaited him in Jerusalem (Acts 20:22). It wouldn’t be pleasant, but he went anyway. The Spirit led him one day at a time.

Discerning God’s will one day at a time is living by faith. It is “the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6 NLT). God’s Spirit leads His children (Romans 8:14). It is not wise to stifle that Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). When we do, we must confess it, claim God’s forgiveness, and start moving with Him again. See more about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of obeying our sinful nature, we follow the Spirit wherever He leads (Romans 8:4). It is essential to leave a spiritual legacy. We know He controls us when pleasing Him monopolizes our thinking (Romans 8:5). Allowing Him to control our thinking and putting to death the deeds of our sinful natures bring life and peace (Romans 8:6, 13). The Holy Spirit enables us to discern God’s will. So, what does God want you to do today? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.

God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free devotional discipleship resource. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,550 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 7,805 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness

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