Keeping in Step
by David Silvester
Many years ago there was a cartoon depicting a mother watching her son with a group of soldiers on parade. There was one soldier who was clearly not in step with his colleagues. The caption of the cartoon was of the mother, saying, “Look, our Johnny’s the only one in step!”
In our Christian walk, it is all too easy to do follow whatever good idea that comes to mind. It might sounds good at the time, and even feel right to pursue, so we do it. Yet it could well be completely out of step with what God wants for us or for the group of Christians we are associated with. If it has been born out of our own ideas, but has not been prompted or directed by the Holy Spirit, or not come as a result of much prayer, it could be a disaster.
Proverbs 14:12 warns us that ‘there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death’. In other words, such a thought put into action, results in disaster.
For many years, we have endeavoured, before making any decision regarding our personal life’s direction or Christian service, to wait until God has given a verse of Scripture to confirm any major decision before making it. This has been a source of encouragement and assurance that those decisions have been ‘in step’ with what God has planned for our life, which subsequent events have confirmed.
After a number of years of fruitful ministry, the words of Scripture that really spoke to my wife and I, leading into a different sphere of Christian service, were part of the verse in Deuteronomy 1:6; ‘You have stayed long enough in this country. Break camp and move on to the hill country’.
At the time we were living in the East Midlands where there were no mountains, and our favourite walks were in the mountains of the Lake District. But not far from the Lake District is Ellel Grange, the headquarters of Ellel Ministries. After praying about this and exploring the possibilities, we soon recognised this really was God’s Holy Spirit directing us.
The experience of Keeping in step with the Spirit is by far the most fruitful and satisfying way to live the Christian life. It saves us from making ungodly choices and going down under the type of pressures this world imposes upon us.
Prayer: Thank You, O Lord, for the guidance and confirmation You give through Your Holy Spirit, and through the words of Scripture. Please forgive me for those times where I have gone my own way and followed my own ideas, and please help me to keep in step with You and live under Your guidance I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
David Silvester is married and has a son, two daughters and eight grandchildren. He trained as a production engineer. He then moved on to become a lecturer of engineering craft skills before being called of God in his early fifties to become a pastor of a Baptist church. He says that,"having previously experienced an amazing healing on a day others expected me to die, it came as no surprise that God directed me and my wife, Margaret, to become involved with Ellel Ministries."
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