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Spirit-Led, Not Impulse-Led · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to the podcast.
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  So happy that y'all are joining me today.
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  Happy hump day. We are midway through the week
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  and I hope that this finds y'all in a great place.
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  Today we're going to be in First Thessalonians chapter 3, verses
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  one through 5. This passage is so rich.
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  It has a lot of different touch points.
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  We're going to talk about discernment.
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  We're going to talk about spiritual wisdom and continue
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  our conversation that we started yesterday on suffering and
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  temptation. And we're even going to talk
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  about leadership. So before I read the passage, I
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  want to emphasize what struck me most.
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  Paul does not operate off of emotion.
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  He operates off of spirit LED wisdom.
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  And I believe that's something we can all desperately learn
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  from and really reflect on. So let's go ahead and get
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  started in verse one. When we could bear it no longer,
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  we decided that we would remain in Athens and send Timothy in
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  our place. He is our beloved brother and
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  coworker with God. In preaching the gospel, we knew
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  he would strengthen your faith and encourage your hearts so
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  that no one would be shaken by these persecutions.
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  For you know that we were destined for this.
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  In fact, when we were with you, we forewarned you.
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  Suffering and persecution is coming.
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  And so it has happened, as you well know.
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  For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I sent our
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  brother to find out if your faith was still strong.
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  For I was concerned that the tempter had somehow enticed you,
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  and our labor would have been in vain.
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  OK, going right into it, I want to talk about how clearly Paul,
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  his deepest desire, one of his deepest desires, was to see the
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  Thessalonians. His heart was truly invested in
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  their faith, but instead of doing what he preferred, he
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  chose what was wisest. It could have been easier
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  emotionally to go in person to see them, but it was not the
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  best decision strategically or safety wise for him or for them.
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  So what did he do? He stayed put where he was in
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  Athens and he sent Timothy. Now I think this is key.
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  Just because Paul could not physically go did not mean that
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  he just emotionally checked out. He did not withdraw or
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  disengage. He didn't say, well, I tried and
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  that's that. He found another way to build
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  the Kingdom. And I think that speaks so
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  loudly to missions and all of us in Our Calling because not
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  everyone is called to physically go.
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  We all have different gifts. There's different seasons and
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  stages of life, different responsibilities.
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  You might be raising a family. Maybe your job does not allow
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  flexibility or that time sometimes finances are not going
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  to align, but every believer is called to participate in the
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  gospel advancing. I also want to talk about how
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  prayer is not less than. Prayer is so powerful and I
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  think sometimes in our heads we can elevate giving financially
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  or a certain amount of money as being more powerful.
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  But y'all, prayer moves heaven and it's something that all of
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  us can do regardless of our income or the resources that we
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  have at hand right now. Now notice how Paul literally
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  sent his brother in Christ in his place.
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  That is active investment. He wasn't necessarily giving a
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  donation. He was sending forth someone who
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  he trusted to mentor them and I want to bring a specific story
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  from my life just for context so that y'all can kind of envision
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  this. But recently I was planning on
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  going on an extreme mission trip to the Himalayas and this was
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  going to require long hiking days up to 12 miles backpacking
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  with 50 LB packs and clearly intense fiscal demand.
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  Now, around the same time that I had my first team call, I
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  started having issues in my right hip and I got diagnosed
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  with Bursitis, which is basically a fancy term for
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  inflammation in your body. And it was already so painful
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  before. I had started training for this
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  trip and I knew it was going to take intense preparation.
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  Now, I could have pushed through, I could have said no
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  pain, no gain. That is the motto that I have
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  always lived for. But I could have tried to prove
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  something. But ultimately I had to realize
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  I did not have peace about it. And I think the Lord was really
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  just teaching me in that decision that discernment
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  matters more than desire. Ultimately, I did not sense the
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  Lord saying push through this. I sensed him saying not right
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  now. And that doesn't imply never,
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  just not now. And obedience sometimes looks
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  like stepping back, not stepping forward.
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  I can still support that team that I was going to be with.
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  I can intercede. I can pray over them and pray
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  for them as they prepare. This is why being Spirit driven
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  matters though, because not every opportunity, even though
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  it might have good intent and you might have a good desire for
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  it, not every opportunity is God's assignment for you right
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  then. So I want us to ask ourselves,
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  do you genuinely ask the Holy Spirit to lead your decisions or
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  are you just moving based on excitement and emotion or what
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  feels right in the moment? I was having lunch with a friend
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  a few months ago and was honestly telling her how
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  overwhelmed I was by my schedule and she was just teaching me and
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  telling me how she a while back had started inviting the Spirit
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  in to create her own schedule. She started praying over each
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  week asking God who she was meant to meet with for him to
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  give, to give her specific people to reach out to and for
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  wisdom on how to order her time. And I started doing that.
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  And y'all, it has been such a game changer.
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  I've watched the Lord first hand just rearrange things so
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  perfectly. He has created space in my
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  schedule. He has shifted plans and aligned
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  conversations that I could never have aligned on my own.
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  And it also made me think, if the Lord is the one who knows
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  perfect timing and perfect plans, why was I not doing this
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  earlier? Why was I not consulting him for
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  everyday things like my schedule?
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  So my encouragement to y'all is be spirit LED, not impulse LED.
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  Now I also want to go into how Paul sends Timothy who is
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  actually someone younger, but listen to how Paul describes
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  him. He describes him as a Co worker
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  and God service. He does not call him an
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  assistant, his intern. He calls him a Co worker.
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  We see in first Timothy 412. Paul tells Timothy not to let
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  anyone look down on him because he is young, but to set an
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  example in his speech. Conduct, faith, love and purity.
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  Timothy, he may have been younger in age, but y'all, he
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  was so mature in faith. He had courage like not a lot of
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  people had at the time. He was faithful and he was
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  trusted. So age is just a number
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  spiritual depth. It comes from intimacy with God.
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  I want us to think about this. You can be younger and you can
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  be very spiritually sound, but on the flip, you can be older
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  and you can be spiritually stagnant because wisdom comes
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  from seeking the Lord. It comes in the quiet place,
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  asking him to speak to you, reading his word consistently.
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  So y'all, I just want us to consider this.
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  Are there any ways that you are disqualifying yourself from
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  being used by God? Maybe by thinking that you're
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  too young, too unknown, are not influential enough.
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  Maybe you came to faith later in life and you feel behind, but if
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  God calls you, he equips you. So don't let insecurity silence
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  your obedience. Also yesterday in the podcast I
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  talked quite a bit about suffering, but Paul does not
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  soften the message in these verses.
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  He tells them that suffering is a part of our destiny.
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  In John 1633, Jesus says in this world you will have trouble.
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  In Acts 1422, we're told that we must go through many hardships
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  to enter the Kingdom of heaven. So y'all, we don't follow Jesus
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  to avoid suffering. We don't follow him for comfort
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  just to gain salvation. I think that there is sometimes
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  a misconception. There's a prosperity message
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  that Christianity guarantees ease.
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  But y'all, this is not the gospel.
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  We are not built for comfort. We are made for commitment, and
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  commitment is what produces Christlikeness.
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  So you will face seasons of trial that is promised.
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  You may be walking into one right now, you might be in one
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  right now, or you might be walking out of one right now.
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  But I want y'all to hear this clearly.
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  Hardship is not a set back. It's actually a springboard.
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  I sense the Lord tell me that in this quiet time.
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  And I had to sit on that for a second, 'cause I was like, wow.
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  It is a springboard into deeper dependence on Jesus, into
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  greater intimacy with the Father, into refinement and
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  pruning, into greater strength. James 1/2 through 4 tells us
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  that suffering produces perseverance.
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  We see in Romans 5 through through five that it gives us
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  more character, which produces hope.
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  Second Corinthians 1/3 through 7 talks about how it gives us
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  comfort so that you can comfort and be more sensitive to others.
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  Suffering is evidence that you're living for something
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  eternal and that you're becoming more like Jesus now.
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  Also, I want us to be alert, but to not be afraid.
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  Y'all? Satan is patient.
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  He's strategic, he's the tempter, and he is watching for
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  vulnerable moments in your life to tempt you.
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  Temptation itself is not sin, but it is the doorway into sin
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  if you entertain it, if you give in.
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  So we cannot be naive, but we can also not live anxious.
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  First, Peter 57 reminds us to cast our anxieties on Him
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  because He cares for us. So what do we do practically?
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  We give any anxious thoughts to the Lord, and we ask the Holy
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  Spirit daily. Every morning that you wake up,
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  you ask Him to empower you to fight temptation, to combat sin.
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  Because if you know that you're gonna face temptation and that
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  you're gonna walk into vulnerability, you better gear
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  up. This requires a staying in the
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  Word, continually praying without ceasing, surrounding
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  yourselves with believers who sharpen you and who challenge
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  you. Because if you were heading into
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  battle, you would not skip the preparation.
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  We're not meant to live paranoid.
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  We're meant to live prepared. So stay anchored in the truth
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  and stay surrendered to the One who can guard you and protect
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  you. Now, to round it out, I want to
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  talk about how Paul is just such a faithful, spiritual father,
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  and he's a leader that loves us enough to prepare us.
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  He doesn't just say comforting things that we always want to
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  hear. He is strengthening the church
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  with truth. He's preparing them for the
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  hardship that they're going to face, but he affirms their
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  calling. And that is how you do it with
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  love, because real love prepares people to stand firm.
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  He wants them to be victorious in Christ, not fragile in the
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  culture around them. And that should be our heart
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  too. So let us look to Paul's
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  example. Let us imitate how he is a
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  leader. And let us be like that for
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  others all around us today. Let's go ahead and pray.
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  Dear Father, thank you for being a God who leads us with wisdom.
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  Would you teach us to value discernment over desire and make
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  us more sensitive to your Spirit so that we do not move ahead of
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  you, but that we don't fall behind?
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  Keep us in step with You. May we have courage like
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  Timothy. Remove any insecurities and
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  remind us of Our Calling. That you equip us.
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  You prepare us for what you have in store.
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  Would you make us more committed?
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  Not seeking comfort? Help us to stay alert, but not
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  anxious, steadfast and overflowing with hope.
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  Lord, we want to stand firm. We want to live worthy of the
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  gospel and of Our Calling. We pray this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. OK, well that was a longer 1.
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  I feel like there were so many things to talk about, but I'm
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  praying that y'all can just learn some things and be
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  encouraged. Go out, be a leader for those
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  around you and I will see y'all on the next episode.