Recognizing the will of God – Part 19

Seek ye first … relationship with Him …      

Bible Reading: Acts 27:9-44

One of the Pastors who have been very influential in my spiritual growth is Rev. Ade Adebayo. He is popularly known as Revo. If you do not love God’s word or you are nonchalant about the miraculous, a meeting with him will challenge your position. I use to attend the Church he oversees i.e. Mercy World Outreach, Ilorin, Nigeria. During those times, I saw him gave copious and accurate words of knowledge.

The most fascinating of them was when Revo gave ‘a word’ concerning me on a subject I had never discussed with anyone. It was a common thing to hear Revo make a statement like ‘there is someone here, ABC thing is going on in your life, and the Lord is saying you should do XYZ thing’. One day, I summoned courage and went to Revo to inquire how he is able to swiftly discern things by the Spirit. His explanation was insightful. One of the striking things he said was ‘when I see it or hear it, I just know that it is God’.

I love that statement. Do you know why? It’s because many other matured believers I have discussed with made similar statements. They may not normally give words of knowledge like Revo, but they just know when God is leading.

One characteristic of intimate couples is that they are able to communicate effectively without speaking; a wink of the eye can pass across a message. Sometimes by just looking at the face of your spouse, you can tell that (s)he is implying ‘it is time to go home’. If someone asks you how you were able to know that, I will not be surprised if you say – “I just know”. How are couples able to decode their body language easily? Did they attend a kind of ‘communicate-without-speeches lecture’? Not really. That is just an attribute of a close relationship.

We are about closing this series and my advice to you is that you ‘seek first to cultivate a good relationship with God, and after that, ‘recognizing His will’ will be added unto you. As you grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, you bask in an atmosphere where you just get to know that … ‘this is God’s leading’.

– tope aladenusi