I have 3 married children. In one of their houses, they have a great poster stuck up on the kitchen wall. It reads something like this:
“If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way your wife told you!”
This is really appropriate when trying to figure out just how to live our Christian lives! Try listening to Jesus!
He said in John chapter 7,38-39a:
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.
HE IS IN US
Concerning the Spirit, Jesus said to his disciples: 17 …..You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14,17)
He was referring to the time when he had returned to the Father.
That means that the Spirit is IN US!
He who BELIEVES IN ME, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water`, said Jesus.
MANY RIVERS
We want to serve the Lord!
Again, speaking of the Spirit, Jesus said, “He will take what is mine, and declare it to you”. (John 16,15)
So when we hear the Spirit speaking to us, we hear the Lord!
In fact God is constantly wanting to speak to us by his Spirit; desiring to work through us – reaching out to other people, in many diverse ways – it is RIVERS in the plural!
MAINTAINING THE FLOW
What can effectively stop us hearing his voice, and stop these rivers from flowing out of us?
Well, sin of course!
But that’s not the problem most of the time.
We desire to serve him, we desire to live holy lives. We keep short accounts. When we sin we quickly confess our sins, and he is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1,9)
No, most of the time we effectively stop the flow of the Spirit in our lives; whether it is to hear his voice, or to act out in obedience what we have been told, BECAUSE OF DOUBT!
DOUBT stops God working!
In the gospels we see that it is lack of faith (e.g. Mt. 17,20), unbelief (Mk. 6,1-6) or doubt (Mt. 14,31) in people, that hinders Jesus in his ministry.
Doubt is not the same as unbelief, it is not an unwillingness to believe. That is not where most Christians are.
Doubt is a lack of faith. Or being “of little faith”, which is Matthew´s expression. Doubt is just being in two minds about something: Should I believe this, or should I believe that?
James calls this like being “a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind!” (James 1,6)
Many times when God speaks to us, we are uncertain. We doubt because of circumstance – we doubt because we have a lot of self-doubt – we disqualify ourselves (think we are not worthy) for many reasons, from hearing the voice of the Lord!
No, you are not disqualified – you are a child of God – you have the privilege of hearing his voice! He said so! He said, “My sheep hear my voice!” (John 10,27) Believe it!
THE WAY FORWARD
Let´s dare to believe; act on our faith and not on our doubts. It is much better to act, and to make a mistake, than not to act at all. That’s how we learn!
Now I have to say that we are going to experience a lot more of the Spirits´s work in our lives in this respect, if we spend time reading his word – reading for example the gospels for a start.
So let’s be encouraged. We have the greatest teacher there is, abiding in us. Let’s trust him. He can and does teach us things that no book or university course can teach.
The surest sign that we are experiencing doubt in our lives is that we have lost our joy (I mean the joy of the Spirit)! Remember the Holy Spirit brings joy! (Galatians 5:22; Romans 14,17)
We are instead believing some lie, and it is his truth that sets us free (John 8,32). Dryness and fear have moved in.
Come back to the written word (the Bible). Come back to the word he spoke to you by his Spirit! Believe it! The lights will be turned on again! Joy will return. Faith will drive fear away!
DON’T FORGET SOUND JUDGEMENT!
I don’t want this to sound simple and trite. But I am talking about spiritual things.
Does this mean that critical thinking or common sense is not to be part of the Christian life? Absolutely not! Of course God wants us to use our heads.
So if we feel we have heard God speak to us, that is the time to check: Is this in line with the Bible? Is this in line with sound Christian teaching? How invested am I in this? Can I let it go? Can I give it back to God? Or is this just me wanting to run my own show? Of course we should use our judgement.
WHEN MAKING BIG DECISIONS
Obviously, if we need to make a big decision in our lives, who to marry, what education to choose etc., we are going to want some confirmation outside ourselves, as to what we should choose. Get wisdom from others, particularly from someone you know who doesn’t always agree with you. There is safety in many counsellors. (Proverbs 11,14)
But our own voice in this, our own faith and conviction, is going to count heavily.
And in the end our faith has to be in our decision making, if we want to be Christians who bear fruit!
Otherwise it is just our own show!
HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE HIM!
If we make doubt our modus operandi so to speak, we will seriously hinder what God wants to do, in and through our lives!
But we have got our sights on higher things than that!
The Lord says, “Believe the Spirit’s ministry in you! HE SPEAKS FOR ME!”
Lastly, let’s remember the commandment to love!
PS: Don’t let yourself get worried or uptight about the presence of «doubt» in our lives! We all struggle with doubt sometimes! This blog is not for super spiritual Christians. In my experience they don’t exist! Instead, be encouraged! Stay joyful! We who believe in Jesus are all disciples! A disciple is someone who is in a learning process.
BE BLESSED😊
Prayer: Lord fill me afresh with your Spirit!