When Jesus tells his followers to make disciples of all nations, he gives them an impossible task to carry out. Or at least it would be impossible without the help that he had also promised them. The Spirit guides the church helping us as we partner with God in his mission to the world. But this means we must learn the difficult task of discerning the Spirit’s leading.

But how do we discern the leading of the Spirit from all of the other leading that we sense? Two things help us here. The first is that the Spirit’s directions are consistent with Jesus’ kingdom message. So, for example, he always leads us toward reconciliation with God and with others, sacrificial love and radical inclusion. When we feel pulled in other directions, it’s definitely not the Spirit leading us there.

The second way we can discern God’s leading is through the wisdom of the community. Jesus doesn’t promise the Spirit will lead me into all truth, he promises the Spirit will lead us. We all have a piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle only makes sense when we put our pieces together. In a culture where we worship personal autonomy, the mutual submission this requires is a difficult pill to swallow, but it’s together, not alone that we engage in Discerning the Spirit’s Leading

If we discern the Spirit’s leading and walk in obedience, then we can know that God’s will will be done through us, and we will get to our destination.