Heard the story of God meeting with Moses using a burning bush? Jewish scholars used to debate why God revealed Himself to Moses in the middle of the desert. Why not a highly populated city or a religiously significant place? They ended up deciding that it was because God wanted to show ‘that no place on earth, not even a thorn bush, is devoid of God’s presence.’ The Bible says: ‘It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose’ (Philippians 2:13 NIV). God is living within us, working within us, and giving us a desire to do the things that please Him. The fact that we have God living inside of us means that we’ll feel uneasy when we’re with certain people and in certain places. When we feel like that we should pay attention. It’s often the Holy Spirit telling us that we don’t belong there. Knowing that God lives within us helps us to avoid going to the places we know He wouldn’t want to go, or get into situations we know He wouldn’t want to be in. We’re taking Him there with us – would He want to go? It might seem quite limiting, and maybe we can even think that God’s trying to take the fun out of life, but God only wants the best for us, so He’s protecting us from harm. The Bible says, ‘For the Lord God is a…shield…no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly’ (Psalm 84:11 NKJV). Having God with us all the time, having His protection, and having so many good things from Him, makes it an incredible thought that we have God living inside us.

What Now?

Next time you feel uneasy in a situation, or with a certain person, stop and ask God whether it’s the Holy Spirit trying to guide you.