“And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” Luke 4:1
Why is it so difficult at times to trust God to lead us by the Spirit? The first thing always to consider is our personal vision of God. Is it according to the Scriptures, and do we grasp something of His commitment to His creation, but more specifically, to those who belong to Christ? It is inconceivable that God, who so loved the world that He gave His Son to save us, would leave us to our own initiatives and leanings of mind and heart, to find our way as the rest of the world. Christianity is a great exchange, our meager “resources” and limitations, influenced by the principle and power of sin, for Christ’s wisdom, strength, and purpose. How then can we as believers, being so little and helpless in the eyes of the world, know the certain leading of God, not only being fully persuaded that Christ will lead us, but also, that He will do so in a very clear and decisive manner?
Let us begin at creation: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) The first thing we discover about God and His creation is that He is not only its creator, but that He is Previous. Before the world was, He was. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews states very clearly that Jesus Christ is the same, “yesterday, today, and forever.” Why is this truth so very important? There is in the pre-creation Christ, a wisdom, design, purpose, and power, that exceeds man’s capacity to even begin to grasp. It is only as God opens our eyes that we begin to see something of His glory, His nature. In that revelation there is laid for mankind a foundation for our faith, a faith that is directional, trusting in the eternal, absolute God, according to His words. As God spoke, and the worlds came into being, so the unchanging Christ speaks today. By the very words of His lips, His power and authority accomplishes all that is His will, for His eternal glory. The question then becomes, “Can we trust Someone who is so great, and powerful, who can with a single word create or destroy? What then is the basic, most fundamental reason for which we can believe God to lead us sovereignly, even intervening daily in our circumstances, and our hearts, to bring us into conformity with His perfect will and purpose? The answer lies in one word, “Love.” Why did God give His Son as the sacrificial Lamb to take upon Himself the sins of the entire world, to save us? It was because of this most salient feature of His character and nature. God IS love, and He has chosen to manifest that love in the most vivid, and blatant manner. Why? It was for us, so that, we might see the contrast of His benevolent goodness, mercy, and grace, as opposed to the wretchedness of sin and death, and all the consequences of their presence and work in the world. In the revelation of the love of God, which comes a call to all men, there is the invitation to come to Him, to the One who not only has created him, but who has redeemed him from sin and death by the offering of His only begotten Son. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he makes ever so clear, the persuading love of God in the giving of Christ, and then, the blessed consequence and result of trusting Him fully: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him, also freely give us all things?” (8:32) Herein is revealed the basis, foundational reason for which we can trust God to lead us, not only that He has the capacity in His power and authority to do so, but because of the love which He has for us. The Lord, in Psalm 32, said: “I will instruct thee, and teach thee, in the way which thou shalt go.” (v.8)
Dear Father, Guide us with Thine eye. In Jesus’ name, Amen.