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Sometimes friends look at us as though we’ve lost our minds. The internal operations of our brain, heart, and soul are not visible on the outside. Sometimes we get an internal nudge to do something or to stop doing something, and we don’t understand why at the time, either.

We’ve all heard of stories about a person who had car trouble and couldn’t make it to the airport in time to catch a flight. The flight crashed, killing everyone on board. The person was angry at first, then grateful. “Dumb car”, kicking its tires. “Good car,” embracing the steering wheel.

But when we stop doing something we talked about doing with our friends, they cannot see the nudge that halts our actions. Sometimes we understand that it’s a warning from the Holy Spirit, because deep down we know it’s not a good thing to do. We didn’t weigh the pros and cons of how would we feel if we carry through with our original plans. We may have ignored questioning thoughts until it came right down to doing it. Then the Holy Spirit flashed red and we put on our brakes.

To friends who aren’t Christ-centered, our hesitancy appears foolish. Or silly, or just plain wimpy.

But we know that the Holy Spirit is our helper. We trust God in His Spirit’s warnings. We may not understand, but when we obey His nudging, it always turns out to be the right thing to do.
When we insist on doing the thing we’ve been warned against, we do a Spirit Shush. Ever notice how when we ignore Him and do it anyway, red flags are waving the whole time? We performed a Spirit Shush. When we are busy talking and ignore the warning to not pass on gossip, we shush it and say it anyway. Word gets around to that person, and they get badly hurt. Your friendship with that person is destroyed. Repairing a friendship is harder than doing a Spirit Shush. The next time you get His warning, you won't Shush Him.

Other times the Spirit is warning us because the timing is wrong. If we just hang on, it’ll happen. Children and adults need to test their patience. Why does this have to happen now? When it happens in God’s perfect timing, it will be perfect.

Take Home Nugget

The key to not stepping outside God’s internal warning is to be sensitive to the Spirit’s nudging. The Spirit is trustworthy, and aligned with God’s Word. As we read the Bible each day, more of His Word seeps into our hearts. Then it’ll be hard to miss His Spirit’s promptings. It’s never a good idea to push the envelope on God’s grace. Disobeying the Spirit’s nudges will cost us a great deal more than we bargained for.

When your friends want to know “How come?” Shrug your shoulders and say, “It’s a Spirit thing.”

God’s grace extends far and wide.
But when we ignore His warning flags
Don’t imagine He’ll let us slide;
Our conscience constantly nags.