The Holy Spirit as a dove on stained glass windows, from the Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Trinity, Indiana), Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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A previous article briefly outlined three areas of mission where the Holy Spirit guides and empowers us. We rejoice that we can understand what “Spiritual” fruit looks like (Gal. 5:22-23), that the Spirit leads us as we embody and proclaim the message of Jesus (Acts 8), and that the Spirit orchestrates our mutual collaboration as we share our Spirit-bestowed gifts with those around us (I Cor.12, Rom. 12).
Stained glass window in the Dublin Christ Church Cathedral passage to the Synod Hall, depicting the Lord as Good Shepherd along with the Fruit of the Spirit. Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons
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Earlier we traced the Holy Spirit’s leadership of the church in Acts. As we appreciate this larger story, how do we recognize the Holy Spirit leading us at “our” level, in our personal daily lives? How do we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, fit into God’s broader mission in the world? How can we discern when the Holy Spirit is directing us, and when it may just be our interest or desire leading us? (Warning: we probably won’t arrive at the answer as to whether the Holy Spirit wants you to take that particular job or not, but we can understand better some principles that can help guide us.) How can we “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16)? Let’s seek some answers as to how the Holy Spirit guides us to participate in God’s mission today.
