Good morning, Making Space for God friends! I love Monday mornings when we connect together to find space in our lives for God. Today I want us to look at our need for direction. Everyone needs direction. If we don’t have direction in our lives we run aground. We can’t get where we are going if we do not know where we are going and if we don’t know how to get there.
Those of you who know me know that I am directionally challenged. I get lost in my neighborhood at times. Yes, it’s that bad. However, I have been one happy girl since the invention of GPS- global positioning systems. Just turn on google maps and off I go. I don’t need to know how to get where I am going. Google maps takes me there. Voila!
We have a greater guide however in our lives as believers. We have the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, gives direction and empowers. He is our paraclete, meaning comes alongside. I never have to leave home without Him. He lives within believers. This is not just an extra perk to being a Christian. This is like oxygen to our soul. The Holy Spirit is necessary for us to live the full Christian life directing our path.
So let’s get practical. If the Holy Spirit lives within us, why is it that our marriages are running on empty? Why are our children acting out? How about our teenagers who seem to have lost their way? Is the Holy Spirit not navigating this ship we call life? Well, maybe not if we are clinging to our life raft we call c-o-n-t-r-o-l. He is activated in a believer’s life by our submission to His leading. But that does not mean that the turbulent waters suddenly become calm. It means that when the waters are fierce and we lose our way…. the Holy Spirit is there. When we call on Him to guide us He does. He is our personal GPS. And without Him, we are lost.
I’m going to be real with you. Some of you are asking the Lord for guidance in a situation while clinging to your own plans and agendas. It’s not working out for you, however, it’s the path that causes the least fear. Setting out to sea with the waters raging while on a life raft, can be scary. But that is simply what happens at times. Our lives are like that. So we decide to take another route. One in which we are in control– like staying on the dry land. Clinging to your life raft, you have a choice to let go or let God. Jesus understood this.
His disciples were in the middle of a storm. It must have been terrifying. Can you imagine the blame game they were playing: “Peter, why did you get us into this mess?! You are always so impetuous.” “John, why did you spend so much time with your head on Jesus’ breast? Your melancholy self can’t help us now.” Jesus walked out to their boat on the turbulent waters… He told them not to fear. He calmed the storm that was out of their control.
And He does the same today. He sent His Holy Spirit to guide you even in situations where you are in rough seas. In fact, he specializes in helping those who cry out to Him. So how about let Him be your GPS? Let go of what you cannot control. Let go of where you are going and how you are going to get there. He still calms the chaos in our lives. Because He is the Prince of Peace.
