Led by the Spirit

(Week 1 of our 5-week devotional series)

Susan Hassebrock is both author and contributor of this week’s posting. If you worshiped with us at Messiah either Saturday or Sunday, you received a very cool brochure that contains much of the same information as this blog posting. The idea is to get people to share their thoughts and comments here on the blog, and thereby communicate with a far greater reach than just 1 or 2 people on the patio. Don’t let the technical newness of responding with a comment keep you mute… let the Spirit lead you… YOU don’t know who needs to hear YOUR voice! And now, here’s Susan’s post:

How do you know when you are being led by the Spirit? We make hundreds of decisions every day, big and small, that affect our lives in significant ways. Traveling through rural America you are bombarded with a succession of billboards advertising a restaurant or tourist attraction at the next exit, but there’s no marquee in our daily lives to announce “God’s way up ahead, turn right at the cross.” For several of Messiah’s partners in ministry, being guided by the Holy Spirit meant life-altering career changes and relocation.

Fifteen years ago the company my husband worked for was sold and we had to decide whether to move to New Hampshire for a job that was pretty much a sure thing, or come to California for a consulting position that might have been temporary,” recalled Susan Hassebrock. “We chose California and if we hadn’t I probably would never have become as close to my mother-in-law, Ruth, who lived in Fullerton, and I would not have been influenced by her to come back to church and get involved in a Bible study group. The move changed our home, Ruth’s faith changed me.”

Jennifer Walter said the time to trust and be led by the spirit came when her husband, Chris, had an opportunity to interview for a job in L.A. They were living in Washington at the time and Jennifer “just knew Southern California wasn’t the place” for her. But, she “prayed all over it and kept an open mind” when it came time to fly down and take a look. “I thought Chris would change his mind, but God really made it clear that this was what we were suppose to do,” she said. There were too many coincidences. The Orange County couple they bought their house from had lived near their home in Washington. “Our lives overlapped theirs in so many ways. The whole situation was in God’s hands. There is no way I would have gone down this road on my own,” Jennifer said.

Live by the Spirit…

Another Messiah member, Susan Blase, was an OB/GYN with a very busy practice. She wanted to cut back her hours and spend more time at home with her kids, but it seemed impossible. Then she injured her neck and the choice was taken out of her hands. “It’s weird to say that the injury was a blessing from God. I didn’t think of it that way then, but now, being home with the kids is really a blessing to me,” Susan said. “It’s connected. It’s not random. There are things I have prayed for and it has happened—just maybe not in the way I wanted.”

In step with the Spirit…

Susie Snyder recalled the housing recession of the early 1990s, when she and husband, Rick, were “led” through some tough times. “Rick had 55 houses drop out of escrow in one day. Times were extremely lean. We were afraid we might not ever come out of it, but Rick was led to go to Texas to build apartments. We never stopped our giving, our pledge to the church. Eventually, the market turned around and Rick was into apartment building and buying and developing land. The company came back stronger than ever. It was an avenue he would have never gone down. God took us through that to show us how to be faithful. You have to trust God even when you can’t see your way out.”

The following prayer was written by Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a poet, author and monk:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust You always, though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

How do you know when YOU are being led by God’s Spirit? You probably have a story to share, too. Just click on “comments” (just below) and follow the instructions. Can’t figure it out, and you don’t have a kid to help you? No problem, contact the Admin for help (dave@rith.biz).