The Importance of Listening to the Holy Spirit

Last night an amazing event happened. My van had a different mechanical problem and my daughter called me concerned.  My sister drove me in to pick up the van, and she followed me home with my daughter in her car. While I was driving the van in front of them, I heard the strangest sound. It was like the sound of a scream of terror, or for those of you who know are familiar with being in the woods in Alaska, it reminded me of a moose or black bear screaming. The sound wasn't really a traditional sound either.  The experience was so unusual that it took me a moment to process the scream was not external.  Meaning, I felt the sound rather than heard it with my ears. Immediately, I got this bad feeling in my stomach, one of serious warning.  Familiar with this this "troubling" inside my stomach from previous experiences,  I recognized it as a warning from the Holy Spirit and slowed down and started to pray. I was on my headset on the phone with my sister and told her about this odd sound/feeling briefly.  Just as we drove into Palmer, before the speed limit changes from 55 to 45,  the feeling intensified.  On instinct, I took my foot off the gas and my van slowed down to 40 mph in the 55 just before the 45 speed limit side by the Fairgrounds, which is of course a no passing area.  Less than half a second later, for some unknown reason, a car swerved out in front of me to pass the traffic coming head-on in the other lane. I literally had less than a second to swerve to the left and over the white line, as his car came inches from mine.  It swerved back over the yellow line and into his lane right behind me and in front of my sister and daughter following behind me.  Mind you, this as 11pm at night and everyone had headlights.  There was no way the other drive had not seen my van before he swerved head-on into my lane.

I cannot emphasize enough the value of listening to the Holy Spirit at every moment of our lives!  Last night, the Holy Spirit saved my life and most likely the lives of my sister, daughter, and the idiot in the other car too.  However, many people when they get a word of warning simply shrug it off or ignore it.  Many talk themselves out of obeying by saying, "that doesn't make sense" or the brain starts to think, "logically there's no evidence for me to do something else, just keep doing what you're doing."  But, in moments when you receive a spiritual warning, never listen to your mind.  Always,  listen to your spirit who is in direct communication with the Holy Spirit.   There was no logical reason I should have heard that scream of terror in my spirit.  There was no evidence before the event that I should even slow down so drastically in the 55 preparing for the 45.  Slowing to 45 would have been the normal and logical thing to do.  But at the leading of the Spirit, I took my foot off the gas completely, allowing the van to slowed to a speed that gave me the time to react and get out of the way of a head-on car accident.   Because I was directly in front of my sister and daughter, my abrupt change in speed caused them to slow as well and saved them from hitting that reckless driver too. 

"How do you know for certain it's the Holy Spirit leading you?" you might ask?  Well, after you listen and follow through, you'll feel the release of the situation.  Immediately after that car served in front of me and passed behind me, the feeling of warning/dread suddenly left my stomach.  While my heart was pounding from the shock of the experience, my spirit felt immediately at peace.  The event my spirit had been anticipating was over.  It's funny to me that our minds and bodies take longer to react and calm down than our spirits.  Once the moment of danger passes, the feeling of peace floods in to reassure and confirm the God's Holy Spirit leading with you.  The more you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the more you know the voice of God and the faster you can respond the next time.  Like any muscle being exercised, faith gets stronger and more reliable the more you use it. 

Also, the Holy Spirit never leads you into danger.  If you feel an unction that encourages do perform a dangerous or sinful act, that's not God's leading.  That's either your flesh or Satan motivating you.  Don't follow through!  While God's leading has an urgency to it, and if you immediately go into prayer, there is direction given and that direction will not lead to harm.  The Spirit of God will never lead you to harm anyone else or yourself. 

The Holy Spirit is our defender, our protector, and our teacher.  Learning to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and discerning its divine voice from your flesh and the enemy of your soul is critical in your life. 

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