Led by the Spirit or Driven by the Enemy

Romans 8:14 states, “those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”  That is a very powerful verse. It doesn’t say, “those who are led by rules,” or “those who try really hard”….it just plainly says, “those who are led by the Spirit.”  You can see this in Jesus’ life very clearly. Before he did any miracles, or raised anyone from the dead, the Father spoke from heaven that this is His “beloved son, in whom [He] is well pleased.”  At this point, the Father was pleased with Jesus apart from His performance. After this, the Bible says Jesus was “led by the Spirit, into the wilderness.”  That is very interesting. The Holy Spirit literally led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted and tested by the enemy!

Sometimes when there are trials in your life, it doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong, it may actually mean you are doing something right! As Jesus was tested and tempted in the desert, He was submitting to God, and He came out of that experience and literally started His earthly ministry. He continued to be led by the Spirit, only doing what He saw His Father doing. He was full of faith, peace, and love….. literally turning the world upside down. We were created to live from pleasure not pressure. I find it interesting that Jesus was never in a hurry….. but He went about doing good, healing all those who were oppressed by the devil.

Let’s compare Jesus being led by the Spirit, to the man with the legion of demons being “driven” by the enemy.  We can see this story in Matthew 8, Mark 5 and Luke 8. This man was being driven to the tombs, cutting himself, running around naked and difficult to restrain. Now, I get it, that’s a pretty drastic example, but I see believers being driven by the enemy at times; even today in different ways.  Sure, it might not look like that, but they are always “under the gun,” filled with pressure, no fruit of peace in their life, constantly in a hurry, making hasty decisions. It’s almost as if the enemy has one of those, “cattle prods,” ranchers use when they brand cows to shock believers and make them run around in a tizzy.

When the Spirit leads, there is peace, power, love, and a sound mind. When the enemy drives, there is fear, torment, and a lot of self-effort (instead of relying on the grace of God). I would encourage you, anytime you are feeling “driven,” instead of led, take a step back, stop for a minute, and get your Father in heaven’s perspective about your situation. Sometimes, all we need is a third heaven perspective about our first heaven problems.