Who wants to go where you don’t want to go?  Jesus told His disciple Peter, that Peter would be led “where you do not want to go.” (John 21:18)  Are you willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into circumstances, places, and behaviors where you don’t want to go?  Jesus put it another way:  “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”

Anybody can follow self and/or  follow the Lord down the path of personal preference.  That requires no courage, no faith.  But will you obediently follow the Lord when He leads you in the direction of discomfort, humility, loneliness, rejection by friends, brokenness?  Will you follow the Spirit into friendship with people you wouldn’t choose as friends?  Will you follow God into a church that makes you feel uncomfortable because it challenges the way you like church to be?

The past 4 1/2 years I have been privileged to meet on Sundays with a group of courageous people who are willing to be led where they don’t want to go.  They wait on the Lord and then (according to 1 Corinthians 14:26) do what He says, even if it makes them feel uncomfortable.  They pray out loud, even if they don’t want to.  They weep, even when it is embarrassing.  They speak out and share God-given wisdom with the group, even when they are scared.  They share testimonies when they feel timid.  They openly confess sin when they really want to keep it hidden.  They lovingly embrace people who they may not find appealing.

It is truly amazing what happens when people put obedience to the Spirit above their personal preferences and comfort zone.  God shows up with tangible power!

Come and see for yourself.  This group meets on Sunday mornings at 10:45 at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.  Come on, step out and follow the Spirit to where you don’t want to go.  (You’ll be glad that you did!)