ICS Daily Devotions
When Things Don’t Make Sense

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture reveals to us that we are a three-part being: spirit, soul and body.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

According to Scripture, the soul and the spirit can be divided, because it is the Word of God that helps us differentiate what’s coming out of our spirit being and what’s from our soul. The Holy Spirit lives in the believers’ hearts, or the “inner man”.

We are used to living our lives and making decisions through our soul, which is made up of our mind, where our intellect resides, and our thinking and evaluation take place. Our soul cannot accept the leading of the Holy Spirit unless our mind is renewed to know that it is possible to hear from God through the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, our mind is not always be in line with the Word of God, which is why we are told to renew our mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:2), so that we can know the will of God, which is good and perfect. Otherwise, we will struggle with accepting or receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit because the mind finds it too difficult to accept. Indeed, the guidance of God may not always make sense to our mind.

For example, in 1 Samuel 23:1-5, it didn’t make sense for David to attack the Philistines. With only 400 men, they could be easily defeated and killed unless the Lord had promised to be with them. Likewise, there will be times when the action that we need to take might not make logical sense to our mind, but it is at times like these that we need to take a step of faith so we can experience God.

We are to seek the guidance and the leading of God whenever we are making any major decision, but it must begin with being sensitive to God in the minor decisions in life. Not all of us are used to being led by the Spirit of God especially those of us who are very strong in our mind.

Proverbs 20:27 (NKJV) The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. A lamp lights up a room, reveals what is in it and shows us where to go. It dispels the darkness, which in this case, symbolises the lack of knowledge. The way God guides us and enlightens us to things we need to know is through our spirit.

Sermon Series: From Isolation to Victory: Cave of Adullam to Keilah