Between

[3] [Joshua] commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. [4] Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
(Joshua 3:3-4, ESV)

Before Jesus died on the cross and sent His Spirit to live within us, the Lord had to lead His people in very distinct ways. Sometimes an angel came and gave a direct word to an individual, but more commonly, God presented Himself in a physical way that the people could see and follow. During the time that Joshua was leading the people (as in the verses above), appointed priests would carry the ark of the covenant to lead the people to where God wanted them to go.

But now, God has poured out Holy Spirit. He lives within us to guide us along the way. There are still physical means of direction for us - reading God’s Holy Word, and the preaching of His Word - but God does not want us to ignore His Spirit leading us directly into all truth.

Most Christians will recognize the importance of having God’s Spirit to help us understand God’s written word, but we often forget that Holy Spirit’s primary role is to keep us in close relationship with God the Father, and Jesus His son.

I had a dream last night that was very disturbing to me. When I woke up, I spoke out loud and said, “What am I supposed to do with this?!“

I wasn’t sure I was even going to write down my dream because it seemed like there wasn’t anything helpful in it. Whether it was just my own frustrations coming out in my dream or the enemy distorting something God wanted to say to me, in either of these cases, I don’t like putting very much effort into understanding the dream.

As I went on my normal tasks of getting ready for my day, Holy Spirit said to me, “You now know how it feels for me to be considered second class.“

I went back and looked at the notes I had of my dream. I was surprised that I had remembered the actual words that someone said to me in the dream.

According to what Holy Spirit said to me regarding the interpretation, I was put in the position of Holy Spirit in the dream.

It was a time when God’s people were coming together and waiting to see what He had to say to them. There were some expectations and most of those things were in-line with what Holy Spirit wanted to do, however, Holy Spirit was requesting to interject something extra. The leader of the meeting pushed Holy Spirit off to someone who was in another room. A man was sitting down with a very elaborate schedule on his computer screen, considering possible changes. When Holy Spirit came into this extra room and asked to say something, the person at the computer considered an opportunity for Holy Spirit to speak, perhaps later that evening or the next day. The leader in front of the computer screen said to Holy Spirit, “You always have something good to contribute.”

I was wondering why the person who was making the decision about changing the order of activities was in a different room. God told me that when we are not waiting for Him, when He does speak, we don’t feel like it’s necessary to give Him priority.

I know this is a very strong judgment. I thought it might have to do with what often happens in church meetings. And perhaps it does. But more importantly, the reason why the Lord gave me this dream is not to judge others, but to judge myself. I recognize that what the Lord is saying to me is very important, even before I know what He’s going to say. However, what I’ve decided to do often seems to me to be important enough to not be interrupted, even by the Holy Spirit.

The condemnation that came from the enemy has now been rejected. However, I am convicted of thinking too highly of myself. The Lord reminded me that I am often in need of correction by Holy Spirit, and His schedule is always more important than mine (or anyone else’s).