Waiting for Orders

“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” — Acts 13:2 (KJV)

In Acts 13, a small group of church leaders in Antioch were worshipping and praying. The Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a special work. That was the beginning of the great missionary journeys that took the good news across the world.

Murray draws a simple lesson from it: “The Holy Spirit is the director of the work of God upon the earth.” God has his own plans, and our job is to wait for his orders and then obey.

He tells a story from his own town, Wellington in South Africa, where they built a Mission Institute. At the opening, the principal reminded everyone that a year earlier the site had been nothing but rubble, stones and bricks. Very few people could imagine the building. Only one man knew exactly what it would be: the architect. The builders, carpenters and labourers all simply took their orders from him, and the building rose. “And just so,” the principal said, the work they were beginning that day was “but laying the foundation of a work of which only God knows what is to become.”

Murray says that is what our lives are like. God is the architect. He sees the whole plan. We see only the next brick. Our job is “to wait, that God should communicate to us as much of His will as each time is needful,” and then to be faithful in obedience.

He admits that Christians are often bad at this. “We too often make our plan,” he says, and then ask God to bless it, instead of waiting to find out what God wants first.

That is very relevant when you are young and facing big decisions: subjects, friendships, relationships, jobs, where to go after school. It is easy to make the plan and then add God at the end. Absolute surrender includes your future. It means saying: God, you are the architect. Show me the next step.

That doesn’t mean sitting still until you hear a voice from heaven. Notice what the leaders in Antioch were doing when the Spirit spoke: worshipping, praying and fasting together. God usually guides people who are close to him, listening through the Bible, through prayer and through wise Christians around them.

You won’t see the whole building. You don’t need to. You only need to know the Architect, and take the next brick he hands you.

One thing to do this week: think of one decision you are facing. Before you decide, spend time this week asking God what he wants, reading the Bible and praying, and ask one wise Christian adult for their advice. Then take the next step you believe God is showing you.