I recently watched one of the God’s Not Dead movies. This one was titled: “God’s Not Dead: Light in the Darkness”. The story involves Pastor Hill who is the pastor at St. James church on the campus of a state university. His father was also a pastor at the same church. Conflict arises when some in administration and some students demand that the church be closed due to the inappropriateness of having a church on the grounds of a public institution.
Things come to a head when a student, upset at the church in general, tosses a brick through a basement window. The brick accidentally break a gas line and as the associate pastor goes to investigate, and turns on a light, the gas explodes burning down the church and killing the pastor. The school amps up its demands for the church to close and the pastor fights back with a law suit in order to try to save his church. The result is the dissolving of his close friendship with one of the members of the school’s board and also the pastor attacks the student responsible for throwing the brick.
Hill feels himself drifting further and further from Christ as he fights against what he believes is an injustice. One student asked Hill, “Everyone knows what the church is against. But what we don’t hear is what the church is for”. At a critical point in the film, Pastor Hill stands alone with God in his burned out church and hears the Spirit telling him what he must do. He goes to see the student in prison and asks the boy to forgive him for his failure to forgive. He drops all charges against the boy. He then removes his suit against the school, with the school pledges to build a student center with an area for the church’s outreach program. And Pastor Hill finds a spot in town to build a new church. Tensions ease…people come together God’s voice returns to Hill and to others who were beginning to doubt God’s presence.
In today’s reading from Acts Paul, Timothy and other disciples begin traveling out in to the surrounding areas in order to spread the Good News to those who may not have heard the message or are reluctant to accept it. We are told that the Holy Spirit prevented them from going into the region of Asia and Jesus’ spirit prevented them from entering Bithynia. Why would this be the case? Didn’t these people also deserve to hear God’s word? We also read that Paul received a vision to minister to the people of Macedonia. It was as if all three persons of the trinity were conspiring to direct Paul and his companions to where they needed to go and where they would have the most impact.
Paul and Pastor Hill had decisions to make. Should they stiffen up and say “I know we are meeting resistance in these areas but we are not going to back down. We will push ahead and not be defeated”. Or yield to the pressures they are facing and allow the spirit to work through them in a different direction? Pastor Hill’s decision to yield led to unity and a greater understanding of mercy and forgiveness in those who were losing the light of Christ. And with Paul, well, we all know the results of his ministry.
On the other hand, we should know where it was that Paul found Timothy. It was in Lystra. If you recall, the town of Lystra is where Paul had been stoned, almost to the point of death, and tossed out out town because of his preaching. But while in Lystra he ministered to Timothy, his Mother and Grandmother. All became converts to Christ and Paul’s model of suffering inspired Timothy to follow Paul at a time when Paul had a falling out with Barnabas and needed someone like Timothy to accompany him and to train. His refusal to yield to the threats of the people of Lystra led to the growth of the church in the region.
How do we know when the message we are receiving is truly from the Holy Spirit and it is God’s plan for us. I wish there were a tried and true formula for this…but I don’t think there is. Here are a few tips from Father Burke Masters of the diocese of Joliet, Illinois where he talks about how to discern your call from God. While these tips focus mainly on determining your vocation, I think they can also help when trying to make a hard decision:
“1) Prayer – Develop a prayer life in which you are spending time in silence listening to the voice of God.
2) Fasting – Make fasting a part of your spiritual life on a weekly basis. Denying our physical desires opens us up to hearing the voice of God and responding to Him generously.
3) Moral – God never calls us to do anything that is immoral or that goes against God’s law. I can never say that God is calling me to steal, murder or commit adultery, for example.
4) Persistent – When God calls, He continues to call. He pursues us in love. The Holy Spirit will not call us once and then disappear.
5) Fruits – The fruits of the Holy Spirit often accompany the call – especially peace and joy. This does not mean that if you are nervous about the call that it is not from God; however, if you experience peace and joy as you meditate on the call, it is very possible the Holy Spirit is involved.
6) Confirmation – Other people can confirm the call. In my case, after feeling called to the priesthood many people started telling me that I should become a priest. The Lord speaks to us through other people. Pay attention.
7) Gifts – What are my natural gifts and talents? God has given us talents to share them with the rest of the world. Ask yourself, “What am I naturally good at doing?” and “What do I enjoy doing?” These two questions point us to the natural gifts God has given us. These natural gifts often point us toward our vocation in life. “
In the end, I think, it is a matter of what your relationship is with God. Are you on a first name basis with Jesus? Do you talk with him regularly? Or is He merely a passing acquaintance? The best advice comes from those who you are close to. Friends you can trust and who know you well. You wouldn’t make a decision on a job change, a relationship or a move based on suggestions from a stranger. You would go to your spouse, your children, close friends, a spiritual director….and God. You could do what Pastor Hill did. Spend some quiet time alone with God. This can be done at adoration, in your room or even in a burned out church.
In preparing for this reflection, I read a commentary on the readings in Bible.org. In the discussion the writer asked whether you would notice a difference in your life if the Holy Spirit left the world for a week. He gave examples of people whose lives took a nose dive. Who began sinning in ways they had never done before. And there were those who just cruised through the week without even noticing a difference. Who had the closer relationship with the spirit before it left them? The writer’s contention was that it was the sinners. They experienced the loss of their guidepost. The one who led them along right paths. The others? They continued on unaffected because they never heard the spirit. Their faith was mainly based on rote. Only based on traditions. Little Ts (minor traditions) and not the Big Ts (the main tenets of our faith). They were so busy with the “things” of their practice that they did not take time to listen to the voice of God. Isn’t this what Christ saw in the Pharisees during his time as well? He came to point the way to the Father and reveal that the commandments that counted was to love God and your neighbor. When to Yield and when to Stop.
