Genesis 12:1 (CSB)
The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
You will struggle to recognize the guidance of the Holy Spirit if you assume He is always going to lead you into your natural strengths and tendencies. The promptings of the Holy Spirit are the expression of God’s nature turning and churning in your heart and mind. The only way you will ever recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit is when God’s nature connects with the Holy Spirit in you. It's at this point that something supernatural, unusual, and beyond your normal life usually takes place.
Don’t always expect God to lead you into areas where you want to go. But sometimes, He does just the opposite. When you follow your own natural desires into situations where you’re fully capable and able, you won’t need to depend on God. As a result, you might tend to drift into being self-reliant and self-focused and maybe even self-absorbed. One of the biggest pitfalls in serving God, is when we make it all about ourselves.
I wonder how often the Holy Spirit prompts us and we don’t recognize His voice because He is steering us away from our natural abilities. You must realize the promptings of the Holy Spirit have little regard for your opinions and self-desires but are aimed at expanding the Kingdom of God in and through your heart. In order to use you to expand the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit must stretch you out of your comfort zone. This means you must be willing to embrace your weaknesses so He can display His strength through you. “Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
The goal of living your Kingdom purpose is not to live a life of comfort and ease but one of faith and transformation. Today, God may be calling you, just as he did Abram, to leave the familiar and head off into the unfamiliar, into a season that will challenge you and stretch you. God might lead you to places you would never choose on your own and lead you into responsibilities you never thought you could fulfill.
But if God is leading, you can be confident that He is with you every step of the way. Because it is in your weakness that His power is most clearly displayed. When God leads you to step out into a place where you feel incapable or unprepared, know this--that is His normal way of leading people. When you get to the point where you must lean on Him and not your own abilities but His power, that's when you're truly learning to walk by faith.
As you pray about living your Kingdom purpose, don't pull back from the unfamiliar or the uncomfortable, but be willing to embrace it with courage and faith, having full confidence that God will accompany you where He leads you. He might be leading you away from your natural tendencies and inclinations as He's guides you into His Kingdom purpose. When He does, you will see that it was His strength and power working through you and not your own.
Are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you outside of your comfort zone? If so, then that's where you will see the expansion of His Kingdom in your heart and experience God using you in ways you never dreamed of. If you choose to step into the unknown and follow God's promptings, remember that His grace is sufficient and His power is perfect in your weakness. So dear reader, be ready today to step out, looking beyond your natural tendencies to see how God is leading, and be willing this day to trust Him beyond your comfort zones.