Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Acts 16-17
Acts 16:6
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
Being sensitive to the Holy Ghost is an overlooked attribute. In this chapter two interesting stories are related by the writer that highlights individuals who were closely and carefully led by the Holy Ghost, which is the Holy Spirit.
One is in today’s above verse. The Holy Spirit of God that dwells in the heart of every believer (I Corinthians 6:19) leads us softly. He is the model of being a perfect gentleman. Powerful yes, but never oversteps His boundaries in that He always respects and honors one’s free will. He also never takes anything that is not given. Those in Christ are not made to be ecclesiastical robots but rather loving beings, that if wise, come to learn how to trust the leadership of the Lord through His Spirit.
On this, Paul’s second missionary journey, he and his company were passing through Phrygia and Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia (Paul would later travel to Asia, see Acts 19:10, wow!) and Bithynia. Why? Fundamentally because the Holy Spirit wanted to get them to Macedonia. Sometimes when God says no it is because He has a bigger yes coming. Think about it, if these missionaries had not been sensitive to His leadership, they may have stayed and missed Macedonia. In the area of Macedonia God did mighty works through Paul and his helpers. Churches of renown were influenced by Paul: namely Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and from there Corinth in Achaia (Greece).
Had this team of missionaries stayed to work in Galatia (Asia) or in Bithynia, they would have missed the greater opportunities in Macedonia and Greece. Meaning the letters to the Philippians, Thessalonians, or those to the Corinthians may not be in the Bible. How many great works of faith have been missed simply by ignoring or overriding the influence of the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Being sensitive to His leadership is a worthwhile goal for every child of God. It is a lifetime endeavor that takes time, prayer, study, and experience. Thank God Paul followed the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. From this, know this: God sometimes says no to good things to get His children in the right place for greater things.
Another illustration of being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Ghost was the night Paul spent in the “stocks”, in prison (verse 24). In short, God dispatched an earthquake to cause the prison doors to open and the prisoner’s bands (chains) to fall loose. Instead of walking out of the prison, as Peter did a few chapters earlier (Acts 12), Paul and Silas stayed in prison. Why? No angel nor the Holy Spirit are recorded as leading them to leave. They stayed and were there to lead the Philippian jailer, and his family, to the Lord. Had they fled at the opening to do so, that opportunity would have been missed.
In short, the Holy Spirit leads, which sometimes means He says no, and/or doesn’t say anything at all (in that case just stay put until He leads [which is usually through circumstance coupled with that still small voice]). Being sensitive to Him is key to a life of faith. Many preachers have said something like this over the years, “God wants His children to know of His will more than they want to know it.”
By whatever means necessary, learn to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Ghost and just watch how miraculously things happen.
Dr. William T. Howe
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