⁹ That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who live him.” ¹⁰ But it was to use that God revealed these things by his spirit For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

Sorry folks, I know that I’ve always made it a point to put in this daily bread entries as early in the day as possible. It’s also how I like to start my day everyday, but putting God first in my life (before doing anything else). Today is a little different because it is also the very first day of my part-time work as a temp QA. So unlike previous days/entries, I’m writing and publishing this entry at…almost 4pm now. But let’s get into today’s daily devotional shall we?

The Holy Spirit is the Closest Thing We can Get to Understanding God’s Plans for Our Lives.

This is where I want to begin our daily reflections. During that very first round of doing these Daily Bread entries back in 2018 and 2019 (I recently realized that I started much earlier, around mid-2017), I already began to understand and learn that knowing how to trust the Holy Spirit is one of the trickest thing to do for us as believers. The thing you must understand about following the Spirit’s guidance is that there will be times when it doesn’t make sense to us. At least in that very moment.

After months of following the Holy Spirit (occasionally questioning my own sanity), I began to develop an understanding about how the Holy Spirit works. Well, maybe I don’t fully understand it still, but I had a genuinely good idea. Firstly, it’s guidance and directions won’t always make sense to us. Secondly, it’s not always at the most convenient time for us. Finally, I also realized that learning to trust the Spirit’s guidance in our lives is also a lot like trusting your own instincts/gut. For people who don’t actually believe in God, or share the same faith as us, essentially, when they say that they are following their gut/instinct, they are actually in fact following God’s invisible guidance (even if they may not be aware of it yet).

Now, we can never truly know or understand the scope of God’s plan and purpose for our lives. There’s no use trying to comprehend it. I’ve tried. But one thing I did understood is that the Holy Spirit would always reveal that next step of God’s plans for us when the time is right. But timing isn’t everything either. In spite of God’s perfect timing, if we are not ready to receive the “instruction”, or if we allow our pride to get in the way (thinking we know better), then we can totally miss out on that “instruction” too.

Actually, now that I’ve thought about it, yes, it does require some practice in order to become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The more you pay attention to it, the more you learn to follow it’s voice, the better you will become at identifying it when it speaks to you.

Just listen to that tiny little voice inside of you. We all have that voice inside of us. The one that hints at us, occasionally nudges us to take action, or to be patient and wait, and so on. Learn to trust that voice.

I Didn’t Understand That Part of His Plan Then, But I Do Now (in Hindsight).

This is the most important part of my daily reflection for today. Reading this passage again, it helped to remind me of those instances in the past when I trusted the Holy Spirit (even when it didn’t make any sense). In hindsight today, looking back on those moments, I am really glad that I had trusted the Spirit and did what it was prompting me to do. It is by learning to trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance that led me to all of my previous career breakthroughs and successes.

Making Sense of the Word of God

This is the final part of our devotionals for today. And also the most important part of knowing how to trust in the Spirit of God and also to follow its guidance within our daily lives. One of the most invaluable parts of living with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis is that it can help us to understand what the Word of God is saying to us on any given day. Without the Holy Spirit to guide us, honestly, we would be quite lost. Sure, there are passages and verses in the Bible that we can somewhat easily decipher. The meanings can be quite simple and straightforward some times. But there are also other times when the passage and meaning may require a bit of understanding. The kind of understanding that only the Holy Spirit can provide. That, to me is the most valuable part of having the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Personal Prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father,

Firstly, I want to give You thanks for providing me with a work opportunity. I also want to give You thanks for guiding me and helping me through this period of my life through Your spirit. Thank You reminding me that learning to trust and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance is forever a daily thing. And just like learning to trust one’s instincts and gut, learning to trust the Spirit’s guidance requires time. Time to be familiar and also to recognize its voice when it speaks.

Thank You for blessing me with Your Spirit so that every single day, when I read Your word, I can understand what it is trying to say to me on that day. I know that if I tried to rely upon my own understanding, I would’ve missed out on so much that You had to offer me.

As I continue to focus on this new temp work as a QA, I am also praying and asking for the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit. That it would help me to make wiser decisions every single day, and also to guide me when it comes to the steps I need to take and the tasks that I need to perform.

I vow to give You all of my praises and all the glory. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.