Discerning God’s Guidance
- davidwperk
- Sep 18, 2024
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Proper 19, the week of the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Acts reading:
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’
You will find the full text of today’s Acts reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 985)
AM Psalm 61, 62; PM Psalm 68:1-20(21-23)24-36
Job 40:1,41:1-11; Acts 16:6-15; John 12:9-19
Today we celebrate the Feast of (See below.)
David’s Reflections
In Twelve Step programs, one prayer suggested to express the desire for God’s guidance reads as follows:
Lord Jesus, I turn my life over to you,
to mold me and do with me as you will.
Trusting that you guide my steps,
I enter the world with hope;
that I may better do your will.
I welcome your Holy Spirit's Power, Love
and Guidance in everything I do. Amen *
The sentiments expressed in this prayer evoke a resonant “yes” within us, expressing a recurring desire of our souls. Yet, even with that holy longing at full strength, the critical question remains, “Just how does the Spirit guide, and how can I recognize the Spirit’s efforts.”
The author of Acts tells us that Paul was trying to discern where he next should launch a missionary endeavor. He attempted to go east and north, but in each case, he heard a definite “no.” We don’t know exactly how they were forbidden from going east, nor do we know how the Spirit forbade them from going north. But, we do know that in a vision or dream, Acts reports that Paul saw a citizen of Macedonia and heard him calling on them to go west to help the Macedonians. Macedonia was on the northern edge of the Greek peninsula, which would require them to sail from the area we now know as Turkey.
Just how does God make known to us what God’s intentions are for our lives about relationships, possessions, vocation, and service and witness? In my own life, several threads usually have woven together over time. There usually has been a persistent inner whisper from God. That whisper might come in the form of an intuition or a desire that just won’t go away. Often, that inner whisper gets confirmed by a review of my core beliefs and values or by a passage from Holy Scripture—sometimes a narrative of God’s ways of guiding biblical characters. And, the discerning wisdom of trusted friends and family helps confirm the other signposts. Circumstance may also take a hand. Certain doors close and others open.
I can testify also to a pattern. Most often my response to what may be God’s guidance begins as unwillingness. Something within me resists the direction that keeps surfacing. (Resistance is a quite biblical dynamic—Moses (Exodus 3-4), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1), Peter in Acts 10, etc) The second movement usually has been reluctant openness, the willingness to consider what seems unattractive or even irrational. Then, over time, a third movement begins. Reluctant openness yields to enthusiastic embracing. It goes from “no way,” to “well, maybe,” to “of course.”
Thus, for me discerning and then embracing the Spirit’s leadership has proven to be a process. If I read today’s passage correctly, Acts account of Paul’s discernment involved a process of considering options. At the heart of that process, we must continue to guard our intent. Do we intend to serve God with our lives and to follow the leadership of the Christ who loves us incomparably? If we can, by God’s grace, cling to that intent and invite the Spirit to sift and focus our motives, we put ourselves in a more open position for listening for the Spirit’s voice.
Lord Jesus, I turn my life over to you,
to mold me and do with me as you will.
Trusting that you guide my steps,
I enter the world with hope;
that I may better do your will.
I welcome your Holy Spirit's Power, Love
and Guidance in everything I do. Amen *
* Friends in Recovery, The Twelve Steps for Christians: From Addictive and Other Dysfunctional Families. (San Diego: Recovery Publications, 1988), p. 26.
Collect of the Day, Proper 19, the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 233)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Hildegard of Bingen, nun, poet, visionary (died 17 Sept 1179 CE).
Collect of Hildegard of Bingen
God of all times and seasons: Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation, and show forth your glory in the world; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
Prayer for Serenity
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
[The original text of Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity prayer (1926) adapted to inclusive language. https://proactive12steps.com/serenity-prayer/]
Of the Departed
Eternal Lord God, you hold all souls in life: Give to your whole Church in paradise and on earth your light and your peace; and grant that we, following the good examples of those who have served you here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into your unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 253)
A Prayer for Light
Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Epistle, Acts 16:6-15
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ 10When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 11We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.
Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
Comments