Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 10
The offering of our body brings us to the place where our human thinking is replaced by Christ's thinking. The mind of Christ enables us to determine what is good, acceptable, and perfect for us from God's point of view.
There is no way for us finally to determine God's precise desire other than to present our body a living sacrifice and to be transformed into righteousness, holiness and obedience by the renewing of our thinking processes. It is a day-to-day proving of the will of God, each small decision being tested in the fire of the circumstances into which the Holy Spirit leads us.
There is no easy, quick technique for discovering the will of God for one's life. It is a messy, confused, sometimes anxious way of the cross. The will of God emerges from the darkness, on many occasions, as we struggle determinedly, patiently, faithfully onward, climbing the steep, rugged slopes of Mount Zion.
Sometimes we break through into the light for a season. Much of the journey is a laborious, boring, vexing, plodding through the dust and heat of the wilderness. From this patient, self-controlled pilgrimage is forged the will of God for our life.
We uncover God's will for us, moment by moment, in the midst of the confusion. There may be seasons of clear revelation and understanding of the purposes of God in us and toward us. More often than not, it seems, the design of what is taking place is hidden from us.
The picture of that into which we are being made, and how we are being utilized, is seen only by the Father. His way is to illumine only what is necessary for the moment. There always is grace and provision for the moment. Our personal unrest often is due to the fact that we cannot see into the future. This is where faith and trust are needed.
We must prove the will of God for ourselves. Although God speaks to us by His Word, by the ministry of the Spirit, by the laying on of hands and prophecy, by dreams, visions and the still, small voice, these special leadings are exceptional interventions. Most of the time we hack our trail through the jungle of daily circumstances, as the Lord arranges our environment, so that the work that He desires is brought forth in us and through us.
It is our task to keep on looking to the Lord for His will several times each day, letting our needs and desires be made known to Him clearly. Meanwhile we are to offer up the sacrifice of adoration and thanksgiving to God for all things.
It is God's task to carefully and diligently work out His will in us and through us, supplying everything we need to the last detail, and bringing about the parts of our desires that are in harmony with our ultimate good as He views our good.
It is in the arena of turmoil and pressure that we come to the knowledge of our unique ministries and gifts and learn how and when to use them.
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)
It is not our place to be presumptuous about our gifts and ministries but rather to appraise realistically our ability to contribute to the Body of Christ. We cannot minister what we have not been given. God has assigned a portion of faith to each saint—enough faith to receive the atonement of Christ and some additional faith for daily living and ministry.
There is no member of the Body of Christ who does not have some faith for ministry. We are not to imagine we are a great prophet. Spiritual elders in the assembly or Christian friends can help us understand our strengths in the Lord.
Perhaps the main problem in the Christian Church has not been that people have fancied themselves to have gifts they did not possess (although that may have happened on occasion); rather, in many instances the believers have never understood they were supposed to be ministering.
The division of the disciples into ministers and congregations has been one of the main causes of the ignorance of Christian people concerning their own gifts and ministries. Hopefully in the future the Holy Spirit will enable us to break this bondage and begin to make it possible for each believer in Christ to come into his unique contribution to the Body of Christ.
Let us also keep firmly in mind that the Spirit of God commands us to "covet earnestly the best gifts." The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit ordinarily do not operate in an atmosphere of passivity and disinterest. The disciples of the Lord are to be utilizing diligently the abilities the Lord has entrusted to them, and to be fervently praying for additional endowments of the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus takes much pleasure in opening His hand and satisfying our desires. How can He find this pleasure if we are seeking the things of the world rather than an increase of our portion of His Holy Spirit?
We are to regard our abilities realistically and not become proud because of gifts we may or may not have. We are to use the abilities we do possess so the Body of Christ may be built up. We are to fervently desire additional endowments—those that will build and strengthen the Body.
We are to "blow the trumpet" of supplication and thanksgiving continually in the Lord's ear so that He never is able to forget we are here on the earth in the middle of enormous needs, that our desire is to help supply the answer to these needs, and that He is the only One who can enable us to meet the needs.
Can you imagine the Lord not sending down the answer when some saint keeps on "blowing the trumpet" after this fashion? The Word exhorts us to give the Lord no rest until He appears on the scene and satisfies our desire (Isaiah 62:6,7).