Allow the Holy Spirit to Guide

One of my granddaughters, Charlotte, just turned sixteen and was invited to a birthday party by one of her school friends. It was a themed party titled glamourous.

So, all the invitees were to dress up glamorously.

Charlotte did not really have anything in her wardrobe like that so it was put out to any family member, did we have something she could borrow?

Glamour – what was that meaning? Ballgowns? Fake Fur coats?

So many of us delved into our wardrobes to see what we could send for suggestions or send the articles of clothing.

None seemed to suit her. Did none of them fit? We could put darts in some of the clothes, adjust them a little? But no that was not the issue.

It was not her image of what she would wear to feel happy and comfortable in a glamourous outfit.

I was very impressed by this.

She quietly had made up her mind. She knew what she wanted, how she wanted to dress. This is reflected in her attitudes towards people, things, the environment.

She has decided what she likes and dislikes, what she enjoys doing and what she is not going to do.

She is not often swayed by others’ opinions. She has made up her mind.

I pray that she continues to be informed in life so she can make the right choices and right directions for her.

As a grandmother I pray over her life, I pray for her that God would guide her every step and that she would be open to listening to Him. Listening to His opinions, thoughts and guidelines for her life. That if she has learnt, even at her young age, wrong attitudes or wrong ways of thinking that she would be open over the years to hear the Holy Spirit guide her and change her if it was necessary.

Looking at myself – am I open to hearing the Holy Spirit? To guide me from my wrong attitudes, wrong opinions, wrong lifestyle? Do I pray for myself that I would have an open heart to hear the Lord for direction for my life? Not just when I want to listen to Him but when He desires to speak with me.

Maybe there is nothing “wrong” but more God desires to confirm, to re-define, to bring into focus more areas of my life that need working on.

We are not yet fully Holy. God desires us to be Holy as He created us to be, so we all have areas that need working upon.

Romans 12:2 comes to mind.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 NRSV

Don’t conform to what the world necessarily says but allow the Holy Spirit to transform your thinking, your pattern of living and be willing to change accordingly.

Maybe I am at the next season of my life, I’ve retired, changed jobs, changed residences…. Maybe my health is not the best. My lifestyle has been altered and affects my everyday…. I have a new family member in my household – a new baby, an older child, a grandparent, a cousin…… all of these can affect how we live going forward. Possibly my lifestyle must change. What does the Lord desire for me in this change?

Questions we all need to ask. Often, we don’t want to answer or to  face that things might have to change.

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love

Rosemary

Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How resolved are you in some of your decisions?

Do you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and shape you in those areas of your life that need some refinement?

Ask yourself what the Lord desires from you and in you currently. What do you think He is saying to you?