Keeping Up




We live in a world where one of the mantras of living is “balance”. Everyone is trying to find balance in life. We strive to find that balance between work and play, eating what we like and health that we like and so many more areas. For us who are believers we also throw in the expectations of quiet time, church involvement, ministry, discipleship and evangelism and so many more things and life seems to spiral down a roller coaster of craziness and insane expectations that often get away from us and more often than not leave us with feels of burnout.

It is in this context that being a Spirit led servant becomes especially important. In Galatians 5:25 Paul says “If we live by the Spirit, then let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Look carefully at this verse and you see the living by the Spirit and keeping in step are two different things. From verse 16 he has been teaching about what it looks like to walk/live by the Spirit. He talks of the kind of activities that we would avoid and the way in which we would live should we walk by the Spirit. But then assuming that we have now decided to live by the Spirit he says go ahead to the next level which is to keep in step with the Spirit.

Keeping in step would mean keep up with the Spirit. There are clear two times when we don’t keep up with the Spirit.

A. When we slow down.
We are encouraged by this verse to not slow down, to not lose pace as we walk with the Spirit through this life. But why do people loose pace when walking with the Spirit? Well sometimes it might be because we are fearful of where the Spirit is leading us to. Or maybe we are unsure and confused of the contexts and the circumstances that this walk might lead us to. In those times we need to trust that this is the same God “who loved us and gave himself for us” (Gal 2:20b). And with that trust and that perspective we need to keep up.

The second reason we may slow down in this walk is because we got distracted. If we have gotten distracted by worldly pleasures then we need to get right and get clean so that we can keep up. If we have gotten distracted by other responsibilities that are on our plate then we need to remember that Scripture calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Sometimes though (and this is every fruitful Christian’s peril) we get distracted by our own accomplishments and experiences that God in His grace has allowed us to experience. Much like Peter who forgot that Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to be crucified, we too get excited on the mount of transfiguration and want to build a temple there and settle there. We lose pace because we want to bask in ministry highs and successes but God is moving on to other places and working on more souls. We are called to keep in step.

      B. When we speed up.
The other time we are not in step with the Spirit is when we run ahead. In these times again we need to hear God’s voice saying “keep in step”. But why do we run ahead? Well, sometimes it’s because we are over excited. Sometimes our zeal gets the better of us and we want to do so much for God. But we are so busy doing so much for Him that we will soon find out that while we were so busy for Him we were not busy with Him. We can learn much from Jesus in this regard. He did much for the kingdom – more than you and I will ever do. And yet we find him often retreating to spend time with His Father. He is not doing this just to set an example. When we see Jesus do this we are reminded that the Christ – like, Spirit-led life we are called to lead begins and finds its foundation in a relationship with the Father in heaven. That is a matter of no compromise.

The other reason we speed up is when we see the familiarity of a situation. Familiarity can be a dangerous place for a believer because it lulls us to a place where we do not need to pray and where we can run ahead of God and get the deed done. But much like Moses who entered a situation he found familiar to a previous time and so struck a rock instead of speaking to it – we too will find out that getting the deed done is not at all as important as the obedience that God expects of us. Don’t let familiarity speed you up, keep in step with the Spirit.

I suspect that when we learn the art of keeping in step with the Spirit is when we will enjoy the Christian life that God has called us to. No it might not look beautifully balanced where every responsibility gets equal time. But it will also not be a life that burns you out, after God knows you and how he created you (Psalm 51) and based on this intricate intimate knowledge of you He has kept waiting good works that He wants you to do (Eph 2:10).

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