Have you driven around Metro Manila needing directions, hoping to see road signs to guide you but they served to confuse you instead? We also need directions to navigate the road of life. Missing the right turns can make it difficult to go back and start all over. Are you finding it difficult to know God’s will for a situation in your life right now? Do you know God’s will for your situation, but find it difficult to follow? Are you pursuing a direction for your life that may not be God’s will for you?
A wisely-lived life makes the most of every opportunity to be in accord with the Lord’s will. We see this in the example of Paul, whose turning point in life changed him from Saul, the persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the avid Christ-follower. The main point is changing lanes in life to be what God wants us to be and do what God wants us to do. For this, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit:
1. To lead us in the right direction. Saul, before his conversion, was passionately pursuing a mission he believed was right. By executing Christians, he thought he was doing God a favor. He was stopped in his tracks, however. Saul was knocked down to the ground with a bright light that left him blind for three days. When God finally got Saul’s attention, He gave him a new vision so his energy could be redirected toward doing God’s will.
Are we stubbornly heading in a direction that may require the Holy Spirit to knock us down before we move in the right direction? God could be saying, “Change your pursuit, your priority, your attitude. Stop doing that, start doing this.” He gives us that chance now, for when our life is over, there are no second chances. And when we do seek God’s will, let us not just consider it as an option or resist the Holy Spirit. As the voice of God through the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert” (Hebrews 3:7-8).
2. To convict us of sin. “’Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’” He replied (Acts 9:4-5). The very God whom Saul believed he was serving turned out to be the God he was persecuting. He had a “blind spot,” and he did not know it. But God opened his eyes, after which he confessed his sin without any excuse and extolled the grace of God (1 Timothy 1:13, 15).
Jesus may be saying through His Holy Spirit, “I am Jesus whom you grieve and dishonor when you disrespect your spouse, when you take your spouse for granted, when you disobey your parents, when you provoke your children to anger, when you lie, when you complain instead of giving thanks, when you refuse to forgive, when you boast about yourself and do not acknowledge Me, when you insist on your way even when it’s wrong, when you put your desires before Mine.” The Holy Spirit exposes our sin and convicts us so that we may come to terms with our own guilt, be granted forgiveness and move on in victory.
Since we have a heart problem, only the Holy Spirit can override the deceitfulness of our hearts. Our prayer should, therefore, be: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
3. To transform us and use us. God could have struck Saul dead on his way to Damascus. But God had other plans for his future. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:14-18). The Lord first had to mold Saul so he can be of use to Him. Saul, transformed into Paul, became the greatest missionary in history.
In the same way, God wants us to change lanes towards a changed life and changed priorities. The appointment Saul received is the same one given to us. God goads us to the way we should go. But when we willingly go where He leads, the benefits far outweigh the price we may have to pay.
A certain man was shocked to find his name mistakenly placed in the newspaper’s obituary section, although the write-up referred to him. He made a huge fortune selling weapons of war, and was thus labeled the “dynamite king.” Like a man looking at a mirror, he asked himself, “Is this who I am? Is this how I want people to remember me when I do actually die?” From that moment on, he changed lanes and decided to promote the cause of peace instead. His name is Alfred Nobel, of the Nobel Peace Prize fame. Are we on the wrong lane in need of changing lanes like Alfred Nobel? Are we truly seeking God’s will, and are we listening? Let us rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us in the right direction, to convict us of sin, and to transform us and use us.
