“[Moses] persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27
What if I told you that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on campus today?
You may or may not be excited but you would likely ask “Really? Where?” You might also ask, “What was he wearing?” “What was he doing?” And if I really saw him, and I really knew what he looked like, I would be able to tell you specifics.
Last week, we made our bold claim that God is at work in our midst and that we should dare to be specific.
But How? What does God look like? How do see the Invisible God and His activity in our lives and the lives around us?
The three-stranded chord of discernment.
We most safely and more surely do our God-detection and discernment by paying attention to Holy Spirit – Word – Community.
God speaks and leads by His Holy Spirit through His Word within Community and we hear and follow, grounded in Scripture to the Holy Spirit as a community.
God’s consistent and predictable, and yet is always fresh and often manages to surprise us.
Here are some consistent ways that God leads and speaks:
The Holy Spirit speaks to us through his Scriptures – encouraging, instructing, correcting, preparing (1 Timothy 3:16). And so we ask: What Scriptures is God highlighting for us in this time?
God calls us to take steps of action – obeying Scripture (Matt 7:24-29, James 1:22) and following the nudges of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). And so we ask: What is God calling me to do in this time?
The Holy Spirit leads us as individuals and communities into certain seasons (Eccl 3 :1-8). And so we ask: Which season are we in as individuals and as a community (summer, fall, winter, spring) and how do we live accordingly?
God grows his desires and passions in us (Ps 37:4, Ph 2:13) And so we ask each other: What holy passions and desires is God growing in me right now?
God loves to pose us questions, and He is amazing at asking ones that penetrate to our hearts – like “Where are you?” or “What do you want?”And so we ask: What questions are on my mind and in my heart in this time?
These are just a few ways, but are a great place to start in paying attention to God-activity within us and around us.
So, as we conclude, I invite you to reflect on one of the ways that God speaks and leads above (desires, action steps, seasons, questions, etc) and consider what God IS doing right now, with you.
1) What is God saying to you or growing in you or asking you or calling you to do in this season?
2) And how are you planning to respond?