Listening to the Holy Spirit: The Role of Humility

Yesterday I got another dose of my own humanity, coming down with a thundering headache and nausea. Trying to decide how to hold my head, in a way that minimizes the headache, didn't leave much room for
pride or self-assurance. I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but it wasn't one of my best days.

In Acts 13, the Antioch church gathered for fasting and prayer, to discern the will of God. The Holy Spirit spoke clearly and the church sent out two of their best, to spread the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ to all who will believe. That fasting and prayer was an important part of humbling themselves to hear from God. In another place, the Jerusalem church admitted they couldn't fight against the authorities opposing them. They cried out, all together, for help, and the Holy Spirit brought the power they needed: "'And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.'After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:29-31) 

If I get all puffed up in my place as a pastor, and insist that I have all the answers I need, I'll be wrong. If any of us think we don't really need to hear from God, we're only kidding ourselves. There are many examples of people in the Bible who needed to be taken down a notch so they could hear God's voice: Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4) Naaman (2 Kings 5) and David (2 Samuel 12) come easily to mind. We're not far removed from any of them, are we?

I'd rather not go through what they had to, to find humility! But there are tools we can choose to use. Whether it's through fasting, or taking some time for solitude and silence away from distractions, or admitting and confessing sin, or some other way of recognizing that there is a God and I am not him, I need to be humbled. Likely, so do you. In any way, we can't hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us when our minds are full of ourselves.

What will you do to humble yourself before God? He "is gracious to the humble" (Prov. 3:34). You'll find him welcoming you with open arms!