Lately, I’ve had to make lots of decisions for myself, my family, and my ministry. The hard thing about making decisions is worrying if I made the right choice. If I could settle that, I’d be at peace. Finally, I found contentment one day when I came across this truth:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” Palms 32:8, NIV
You and I may not know our future, but God does. Through the Holy Spirit, God directs our steps by the way of peace or lack of it. when peace rules, we can move ahead with confidence and contentment. If there is a lack of peace, I need to revisit my decision. Either way, we are not alone in the process. We have a heavenly helper.
Our heavenly helper works in our lives much like a referee does in a basketball game.
As long as the players stay within the boundaries of the court, they are free to move about. But when there is trouble on the court or the ball goes out of bounds, the referee blows his whistle. The sound of the whistle stops the game until the referee restores order and puts the ball back into play.
Likewise, we have a heavenly Referee—the Holy Spirit. When there is a lack of peace in our lives, that’s our signal He has blown the whistle and called for a time out to redirect our path.
Sometimes our ball has gets kicked out of bounds by unexpected adversity in our lives. Other times, we step out bounds on our own by giving way to temptation and sin. In each of these circumstances, the Holy Spirit will blow the whistle to gain our attention. If you and I are smart, we’ll wait on our heavenly Referee to restore our peace and put the ball back into play.
For peace to return, we need to wait and listen to the instructions of our Referee. You and I seek those instructions through prayer and meditation of God’s Word. It may also involve repentance before we can move forward. Either way I assure you that stepping out of bounds doesn’t mean God will call “game over.” As we respond and obey the Holy Spirit, He simply puts the ball back into place. Those who have learned to play under the guidance of their heavenly Referee will never stray long outside of the boundaries God has set for their life.
sagreen125 says
Thank God he sent the Holy spirit to blow that whistle. Sometimes it seems to take awhile for me to hear it.