Monday, February 4, 2013

Shunting away from the Holy Spirit


Mihoko and I came back from a long day in Tokyo. Visiting some great people. So we are on a subway and the young driver was in a hurry. Until he accidentally overshot the safety doors at one station. They have on the subways a double set of doors. I call them the anti-suicide doors. But the train doors must line up with the suicide doors so they will open. The driver had to apologize and back up the train. This reminded me of a quote by Andrew Murray in his book "Absolute Surrender." 
You all know what shunting is on a railway. A locomotive with its train may be run in a certain direction, and the points at some place may not be properly opened or closed, and unobservingly it is shunted off to the right or to the left. And if that takes place, for instance, on a dark night, the train goes in the wrong direction, and the people might never know it until they have gone some distance.
And just so God gives Christians the Holy Spirit with this intention, that every day all their life should be lived in the power of the Spirit. A man cannot live one hour a godly life unless by the power of the Holy Ghost. I may be very diligent and doing a great deal, and yet all the time it is more the work of human flesh than of God’s Spirit. What a solemn thought, that man can, without noticing it, be shunted off from the line of the Holy Ghost on to the line of the flesh; that he can be most diligent and make great sacrifices, and yet it is all in the power of the human will! Andrew Murray "Absolute Surrender"

Maybe your praying for an open door looking too far ahead and the door is right there but you have over shot the door because of speed and prideful expectation. Maybe you need to back up and resynchronize with the Holy Spirit and watch the doors open.