Text: Acts 15:36-16:10 | Listen to Message
How is God leading me?
People often expect God’s leadership in their lives to be both spectacular and specific. They want a voice from heaven that speaks their name and provides fresh, detailed instructions regarding that upcoming decision. But more often than not, God’s leadership comes through other means.
1. Are you led by the priorities of Jesus?
When Jesus walked this earth he was all about proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom: forgiveness, healing, and restoration were all happening because the King had returned to lavish grace on his broken people. Then when people responded in faith to this good news, Jesus urged them to follow him and abide in his words.
God is leading you not only to believe the Gospel for yourself, but to share it with others. And he wants to use you to strengthen and encourage others as they seek to walk in step with the grace they’ve received. Do these priorities of Christ guide you when the way forward isn’t clear?
2. Are you led by the law of love?
In Christ, you have the freedom to do a great many things; but you also have the freedom not to do them if, by not doing them, you can show deferential love for others. See, love doesn’t insist on having its own way. Love lays down its rights for the good of others.
God is leading you to love others in costly ways. It’ll cost you your time, your money, your comfort, and your reputation to love the people God has put in your life. But you’ll never love others like this until you see that this is how Christ has loved you – setting aside his rights to identify with you in your brokenness and shame, and suffering the horrors of the cross in order to rescue you from sin and death. How will loving others as Christ loves you guide your steps going forward?
3. Are you led by the Holy Spirit?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking the Spirit isn’t leading you unless you see a vision and hear an audible voice. Most of the time, the direction of the Spirit seems quite…ordinary. He speaks to you when you pick up his Word, and read it, and take it seriously enough to walk in humble obedience.