Follow the Leader: It’s Not a Game
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14
When a beautiful, jubilant woman hurried over to my car as soon as I pulled up in the parking lot where I go to church with my homeless friends, I had no idea what she would say. I had barely turned the car off before she made it blatantly clear she had something important to say. Was she angry? Did she need something? Whatever it was, clearly it was important enough that she hadn’t wanted to wait until I got out of my car and made my over to where others were sitting and standing waiting for the front doors of the building to be opened and the service to begin.
What this sweet woman had to say came as a total surprise, and came with a message that I believe we all need to hear. Within the next 10 or 15 minutes, what she wanted to share with me unfolded. She had been tidying up at a homeless shelter after one of the women had moved out, and out of the bed she was making tumbled a pocket-sized devotional I had written that had been left behind by the woman who had checked out. The woman now animatedly shared how she had been resisting reading the Gospel tracts and devotionals I hand out, and that even the one she had read in the past she only had skimmed hurriedly through. But the Spirit of God had prompted her to read the devotional she had found in the bed. This time, she was so deeply moved by the Lord in reading the devotional that she had wanted urgently to talk to me and to share some of her story.
Less than an hour before, I had been seeking the Lord about whether He wanted me to continue writing the devotionals in my usual style. I had sensed the Holy Spirit leading me to continue with the style, and here was confirmation. But this wasn’t the bigger message I believe God wanted to give me – and to give you. The message really wasn’t about my writing and ministry work at all. It was about the Lord. We get so caught up in our flesh in whether, how and when things should happen, whether regarding ourselves or even others, that oftentimes we leave no room for the Spirit of God to move at all. I could have distributed my devotionals to a million people nationwide and none of them might have reached that lovely woman with her bright eyes and smile, but God knew exactly when and how He would reach her. It wasn’t about me and my service to God, but about Him, His love, His will, His timing, His method, and His glory!
Our job isn’t to run the show, but to get out of God’s way and yield to the leading of His Spirit. Children of God are led by Him. It’s not our job to lead; it’s our job to follow. Follow the leader; follow the Lord!