"This time of waiting on God was also necessary in order to teach them the greatest lesson of the Christian life--to cease from themselves. The greatest danger about these men was not in what they may fail to do, but in what they might try to do. The greatest harm that we can do is the attempt to do anything at all when we are not prepared, and when we do not understand the Master's will. There are times when the most masterly thing we can exercise is inactivity, and there are times when the most mischievous thing we can do is to do anything at all."
--A.B. Simpson referring to Acts 1:1-5 in his book "The Holy Spirit."
I've so many times been guilty of leading myself, my family and ministries I've been leading into things before I've gotten clarity from the Lord. Our passions, leadership drives, and addiction to action and productivity have the possibility of motivating us to action that is good, even right, but is not necessarily God's intent for us at this time.
Praise be to God that He has given us the Mighty, Faithful and All Wise Counselor who knows the Father's heart perfectly to guide, lead and empower us at the right time for the right task. I am finding more and more it is not necessarily the "what" I am off on, it is most often the "how" where I get myself int to trouble. The Spirit of God is sure to lead us not only in a God glorifying "what" but also in a manner in which brings the Father and Son the greatest amount of praise and glory.
My prayer is that our Student Minsitries and our Christian communities for that matter would be full of men, women and teenagers who are learning the secret, freedom and power of waiting on the Holy Spirit and then acting bodly, immediately and radicially in obedience to both the "what" and the "how".
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