‘Living in the spirit’ and ‘following the spirit’ are both phrases Christians use to describe internal urges to do things which are considered to be the Holy Spirit’s direction.
The question though is, how do you decide if an internal urge to do something is the Spirit’s direction or not. If one is not careful, the desire to ‘follow the spirit’ can lead to all sorts of possible misplaced convictions.
Some say they always know with 100% certainty when the Spirit is leading them to do something. If this is the case with you, then this post will be unnecessary. However, I imagine a lot of people are like me, and not totally sure when an internal urge is from the Spirit. After all, Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things…”
My way of dealing with this is twofold:
- Whatever your current focus commandment or principle is, heed any urges associated with that focus. If your focus is on being more generous, and you have the urge to give a sizable donation to a ministry, do so. If your focus is on witnessing, and you feel like maybe you should hand a tract to the person standing in front of you, do so. Interpret those feelings to do something in line with your focus as the spirit’s prompting.
- Allow internal urges to aid in determining your next focus commandment or principle. How you choose what to focus on is not a science. Along with reasons why you believe something would be good for you right now, allow possible promptings of the Spirit to factor into this decision.
Expect the spirit to lead you in these ways by asking for His filling regularly, as directed in Luke 11:13 and Ephesians 5:18.
I believe there are two great pitfalls one can fall into as a Christian. The first is complacency. This can result out of frustration with not being able to understand everything or preoccupation with our own personal pursuits. A lack of reverence for the Scriptures results. There ceases to be a “trembling at his word” (Isaiah 66:5). Sometimes, there is even a belittling of the Word that follows.
The second pitfall is following what are possibly misplaced convictions. There was a time in my life when I tried to follow every nuance of Scripture and every possible urge that I thought might be the Spirit’s prompting at the same time. This led to many extreme actions and a lifestyle of guilt that I wasn’t doing everything I should be doing.
Following the spirit is one process that many either take to an extreme or else just don’t worry about. I believe the approach I have outlined will help you as you seek to discover how to balance reason with sensation.