What is the biggest reason believers fear to step out in faith, obeying the leading of the Spirit to do unconventional things? Most times for me it has been a nagging voice of fear, saying I will become a spectacle. That people would shake their heads and tell each other I’d lost my mind. Or that I was a zealot who should calm down a bit. Perhaps there would be a smirk or a snicker or an eye roll as I walk by. In short, I was afraid of being put to shame.

After all, it is unusual behavior for a person to rely on anything other than their natural perception. Most people are driven by a combination of emotion and rational thinking. And people have debated endlessly, trying to conclude the perfect balance between the two. But though people can’t agree on the balance between emotion and logic, they at least understand them both. If we know all the facts surrounding any given circumstance, we can make sense of a person’s behavior by relating to their emotional responses or their rational process. 

Following Demonic Direction Brings Shame

But most people consider it sketchy to have the third option of receiving specific instructions from an invisible God. The only example most people see of this type of instruction from invisible sources, is people listening to demon voices who tell them to do crazy things with bad outcomes that bring shame. 

We don’t think of these details consciously necessarily, but our subconscious grapples with them as we debate our courses of action. And it is why we fear many times when the Spirit leads us to step out in faith. But we need to understand the enemy’s tactic. He is trying to cast a bad light on walking by the Spirit’s leading by putting out so many counterfeit examples of it with bad outcomes, that many people throw the whole idea away. But the Bible is clear that the sons of God will be led by the Spirit of God.  

God Has Us Covered

The good news is, God knows our makeup and our hang-ups. I suppose that is why He gave us promises to cling to in our distress.

1 Peter 2:6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” – ESV 

Romans 10:11 says something similar, as do other verses in the Bible. Do some cross references and word searches some time. God clearly wants us to avoid this snare of the enemy. We have no right to compare walking by the Spirit of God to walking by the voices of demons. The difference is vast and the outcome is just as vast. 

I have done both and it has been a process to learn to recognize the voice of my Shepherd. The more I close doors from my unsanctified life and renounce demon voices, the less likely I am to even hear from them. And though I have failed at times, I see no excuse not to push onward with God’s word at my back. 

So can we all, for He promises we will never be put to shame if we trust in Him. That does not mean there won’t be misunderstandings or even persecution. But we will ultimately be vindicated if we follow His leading without compromise.