August 23 Thought for the day...following the lead

Nearly every morning, I begin my day seeking the Lord. I have found one of the most dangerous things I can do is to presume that I am doing exactly what the Lord wants having not waited on the Lord for guidance. Jesus is our example, and he waited for the Holy Spirit. This may change your way of thinking...

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith, let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” Matthew 9:27-30

Jesus walked right past a couple of blind beggars. They followed Him, yelling at the top of their lungs (the word translated "crying out"). Jesus walked a distance as these men continued to follow him stumbling and yelling all along the way. They caught up to Him when He entered into a house. Why did He pass them up? He could have just quieted them by healing them, but it was not the time to heal.   But they pursued Him, then He asked them, "Can I do this?" Their answer, "Yes!" He did not heal as He did in other instances, instead placed the onus on them, "according to your faith!" Even Jesus only moved by the directing of the Spirit. Learning to not presume but instead to know what the Father wants to do and when is key to moving in power.

Here is another example Luke 5:17 "Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them." Jesus was busy teaching when He sensed the Holy Spirit's leading to heal, that is when He began to heal.

Jesus only did what He was being led to do (John 5:19). As He did, healing, deliverance, teaching flowed from Him. As He was led, lives were changed even in healing Luke 6:19 tells us everyone who came to Him when He was led to heal, was healed.

Many people presume the Lord is doing something when He is not, almost demanding Him to perform. As Christ-followers, we must choose to seek Him, wait on Him, when we do, we will find His strength, and we learn to do what He is doing when He is doing it. I know this may challenge some of your theology, but at the very least you can follow Jesus' example of seeking the Father as He always did and we read quite often in scripture. Many of our problems and struggles can be found in presumption rather than seeking Him and following His lead. When we follow His lead, amazing things happen!