Guidance Too Good to Miss

One day Anna heard that small voice insisting that she take a widower friend dinner.

"Today. Do it today," the voice said. She mentally protested because of other commitments. The urging persisted, growing too strong to ignore. She changed her schedule to include her friend.

She watched as he set her casserole into his empty refrigerator and freezer. They chatted about his new computer and his emails to children and grandchildren. At the end of their visit, he said, "You must have known what day this is."

"No," she responded, knowing that all firsts in a widower's life are difficult.

He smiled. "It's her birthday," he said. "Today is my wife's birthday."

As she drove away, she thought, What if I had ignored that urging inner voice?

God often guides us by putting His desires in our hearts. We can easily ignore these inward impressions implanted by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit may also guide by giving a sense of restraint. For example in Acts 16, the Holy Spirit told Paul and Silas "not to go into the province of Asia at that time...they headed for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go."

Guidance can be as simple as avoiding that which robs us of God's peace.

Dear Lord, teach me to always wait for You, to always walk in the Spirit.

"And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:27).