How To Walk Led By the Spirit Part 5

The fourth action we must undertake in order to walk led by the Spirit is to submit to the will of God without delay.

Matthew 2:13-14, “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt.”

Joseph was a man who knew to submit to the will of God without delay. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him to arise, take the young Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, Joseph didn’t wake up the next morning and visit the neighbors to say goodbye, he didn’t go to his extended family to explain the situation, he didn’t wonder whether he would find a job in Egypt or if they had enough money to get there, he arose, took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed for Egypt.

Often times when God speaks an instruction, when He assigns us a task, when He commands us to do a certain thing, it is time sensitive. He does not speak to us today, that we might do what He commanded when we get around to it, when we have nothing more pressing, when time will allow it, or when we’re more rested.

When God speaks, He expects us to obey, and to submit to His will without delay.

I often wonder what would have happened if Joseph had put off fleeing to Egypt for a week, or a month, or until he finished his latest carpentry project. What would have happened if after the angel appeared to him in his dream, Joseph would have reasoned to himself that it wasn’t really a good time, or that he could protect the young Child on his own, or that there were just so many other things he had to get done before he could leave.

If we desire to walk led by the Spirit, we cannot begin to consider what we are leaving behind if God tells us to go, nor can we consider how we will arrive at our destination, or how it is that we will be able to fulfill the calling to which God has called us.

I have always loved Phillip for his unwavering obedience and submission to the will of God without delay or qualification.

Let’s be honest, what God asked Phillip to do was a difficult thing through the prism of human logic, and I dare say it was something very few ministers of the gospel today would be willing or able to do.

Phillip found himself in Samaria, preaching Christ, healing the sick, and casting out demons, and the people were so receptive that soon Philip was spearheading a full blown revival. Multitudes believed, multitudes were converted, there was great joy in the city, and at the height of it all an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and told him to arise and go in the desert.

Philip did not try to reason with the angel of the Lord, he didn’t try to point out the fact that he was leading a massive revival, and the angel was telling him to go into the desert, he didn’t try to boost his self-importance by saying ‘I am needed here’, the Word tells us that Philip arose and went. No qualifiers, no further explanation, no attempt to beg off a journey into the desert, Philip simply arose and went.

God asked Philip to leave behind a revival and go into the desert, that one man, an Ethiopian eunuch, might hear the word of God and be converted and baptized.

Keep in mind, the angel didn’t tell Philip the purpose for which he was being sent out into the desert, he didn’t say ‘once you get there, there will be a chariot, and a man, and you’re going to get to tell him about Jesus’, the first instruction Philip received, was to go into the desert, and only after obeying the first part, did the Lord tell him to chase down the chariot and tell the Ethiopian of Christ.

This is the kind of submission God requires of us, and He will accept nothing less.

If He commanded, than He will make a way, if He called you then He will equip you, if He told you to speak then He will put words in your mouth, all that you must do is obey and submit to His will.

Yes, often times what God commands goes against the grain of human reason; yes, often times what God commands will take us out of our comfort zone; yes, often times what God commands will seem difficult at best; yes, often times what God commands will bring about the ridicule and scorn of family, friends and even brothers and sisters, but all we can do is remain faithful to the voice of God, and submit to His will.

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

In times such as these, when deception upon deception is being perpetrated upon the house of God, when the faith of many is growing cold, when fewer and fewer individuals still retain the fire of their first love, being led by the spirit is not a luxury, or a perk, it is a necessity for every believer. Be led by the Spirit and you will have your fill of the spiritual succor so many are starving for. The Spirit will always lead you to the Word, and the Word will always provide spiritual nourishment, and having been spiritually nourished we will continue to grow from strength to strength, from grace to grace, and from faith to faith.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.