There are times
when to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life,
we must walk alone,
which goes contrary to our natural inclination.
Sometimes we must walk away from the crowd,
even the Christian crowd.
-A. W. Tozer
Clint and I know this truth and this pain. Nearly every time in our early marriage that we stepped out in faith of where God was leading us, it was met with sharp criticism from the Christians in our lives. Sometimes the Christians in your life can be more hurtful and condescending than the world.
We could quickly sift out the genuinely concerned individuals from the threatened. The concerned would ask why we believed it was God leading us to make sure we had sought the Lord and His Word. They eagerly read Scriptures, listened to our hearts, and prayed with us and for us. Sadly, not a single-family or church member was in this group. It was different groups of friends, who lived far away, who took this approach.
Those threatened by our choices would immediately give reasons for why they had made the choices they had. Scripture was not a reason for their choices. When asked, they could not give supporting verses for their choice. That doesn't mean we think what they chose was wrong. It means Scripture was not a part of their discussion with us.
They didn't want to listen to us share what we discovered the Bible said about that part of life and had done no studies of their own. They seemed mainly upset that we were not living according to their life choices. As the years passed, a few of them were convicted in the same ways as we had been and made the same kinds of changes in their lives. We are very close to some of those people today.
God's leading will line up with Scripture. Always. He never leads us to do the opposite of His Word. The Holy Spirit can put pressure on you to move in the direction He wants. In Clint's and my life, sometimes that pressure has been gentle, at and other times it has been very intense.
You can obey and receive blessings for following, or ignore Him and lose blessings because of it. Clint and I wanted ALL of the good things (blessings) God had in store for us, so we tried very hard to seek and follow Him in each part of our lives. We didn't get it perfect. We are a couple of the most flawed people you will meet. However, we opened our Bibles and hunted for answers on finances, marriage, husband and wife relationships, careers, reproduction, raising children, and more. Sometimes we liked the answers and other times we balked before we obeyed.
To my new young readers, I encourage you to seek the Lord's will. Once you have that certainty of His will, follow the Lord without looking back. Even when the trials come, and they certainly will, know there are blessings ahead for your obedience and your faith.
Dear Reader, Clint and I are in a stage of life where we are both reaping from past choices and sowing for the future. We are more committed to ever to seek God's way for us through studying our Bibles and prayer. We do not regret a single thing about how God led us. In some things, we wish we had yielded sooner! EVERYTHING He led us to has been better than we could have imagined. Again, we aren't perfect people. We still sin and have struggles, but God blessed our sincere desire and effort to follow Him. He will you too. My love to all!
God's leading will line up with Scripture. Always. He never leads us to do the opposite of His Word. The Holy Spirit can put pressure on you to move in the direction He wants. In Clint's and my life, sometimes that pressure has been gentle, at and other times it has been very intense.
You can obey and receive blessings for following, or ignore Him and lose blessings because of it. Clint and I wanted ALL of the good things (blessings) God had in store for us, so we tried very hard to seek and follow Him in each part of our lives. We didn't get it perfect. We are a couple of the most flawed people you will meet. However, we opened our Bibles and hunted for answers on finances, marriage, husband and wife relationships, careers, reproduction, raising children, and more. Sometimes we liked the answers and other times we balked before we obeyed.
To my new young readers, I encourage you to seek the Lord's will. Once you have that certainty of His will, follow the Lord without looking back. Even when the trials come, and they certainly will, know there are blessings ahead for your obedience and your faith.
Dear Reader, Clint and I are in a stage of life where we are both reaping from past choices and sowing for the future. We are more committed to ever to seek God's way for us through studying our Bibles and prayer. We do not regret a single thing about how God led us. In some things, we wish we had yielded sooner! EVERYTHING He led us to has been better than we could have imagined. Again, we aren't perfect people. We still sin and have struggles, but God blessed our sincere desire and effort to follow Him. He will you too. My love to all!
James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word,
and so deceive yourselves.
and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says.
