I'm So Confused!

In Acts 20:22, Paul announced, "And now compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there."

In the next chapter, Paul visits some believers in Tyre. Luke says, "Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem."

This really brings up for me the issue of the Spirit's guidance. Sometimes the faith community is able to discern his guidance together (Acts 13:1-2). I hear this emphasized a lot from certain circles. At other times, spiritual and devoted believers come to different conclusions about the Spirit's leading in a particular situation, such as here in Acts 21. When this happens, it cannot be due to conflicting messages from the Holy Spirit. So it must be due to our flawed capacity to discern his voice.

From my observations, and here in this context, it seems that thoughts of self-preservation or fear are especially notorious for distorting the message that the Holy Spirit is sending. Apparently, these other believers in Tyre took the Spirit's warnings of what lay ahead for Paul in Jerusalem to mean that he shouldn't proceed. All they could think of was that it was going to be painful. And we are always inclined to believe that painful or difficult things should never be pursued. We reason that God wouldn't lead us into those paths. This is true even with mature, spiritual believers, and it is doubly true with believers who are still stuck in a religion of personal comfort.

For this reason, the collective church body is often not the most reliable source for discerning the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is why God has always raised up spiritual leaders for his people. If the church wants to follow the leading of God, it must carefully choose leaders who are sold out to doing God's will above personal considerations and follow them.

A person who is fully in self-offering mode, willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever he leads, has a much clearer reception of the Spirit's calling than one who is encountering bleed-through from other fearful voices.

Holy Spirit, may I be so attuned to you and so open to your will for my life that I don't mistake threats of hardship to mean that you aren't favoring my course. Help me to distinguish your courageous voice from the voices of fear. Amen.



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