Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Need for Daily Spiritual Sensitivity


Looking back on your life, where have you seen the Holy Spirit at work? Whether it’s over the years or even in the last few months, where have you seen God at work in an obvious way? Can you easily identify God’s hand? In Ephesians 1, Paul prayed this for the church:

“18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19a)

Paul wanted the church to see life through a fresh set of eyes. He wanted them to experience an enlightened heart, to see and experience spiritual realities in a way that changed their whole perspective on life and life’s situations. I have found it a little a little easier to look back in 20/20 hindsight and trace God’s finger or hand on my life from past experiences. But it is quite another thing to cultivate the kind of spiritual sensitivity that is able to trace his guiding hand on a daily moment by moment basis.

When you step foot in a foreign country, you might be stepping foot in a place that is rather unfamiliar to you. The sites will look different, the people will look different. The language will sound different. You have stepped into a new world. You will notice things you’ve never seen before. You will have a heightened sense of awareness. Things will stand out to you. You are much more sensitive to your surroundings.

In the same way, there is also a heightened sense of spiritual awareness and sensitivity that God wants to cultivate in you, even now right where you are. You would do well to ask yourself, where do I see God at work here? Where is there a need that I can help meet? Where is there a situation that is calling me to address it through prayer? Where is the Holy Spirit at work and how and how can I join in on that work so that God might use me as well? What is God doing in my heart and how is he speaking into my life through all of this?

Try not to let unconfessed sin cloud your spiritual vision. Let us be mindful of the potential for spiritual laziness that may make us blind to what’s happening. Let us be careful not to be so focused on our own daily agenda that we miss out on what God wants to show us or do with us. Pray for God to wake you up with a new set of glasses on. May you have eyes to see, because God has much to show you, and He wants to cultivate that kind of sensitivity in you every single day of your life.

Pastor Eric

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