The Holy Nudge

I was sitting at my desk working on some things when I got a sudden nudge – you know that gentle elbowing from the Holy Spirit – to send an idea for a women’s ministry topic to a leader I know.

Within five minutes of emailing it, I got a call from her saying that she was just asking the Lord what she was going to do about programming and this idea came and was exactly what she was looking for! Several weeks later, a friend sent me a very appropriate quote she had heard, and again I had a nudge to send it on to a friend who I thought would be encouraged by it. As we were walking up to get some lunch, she thanked me for the quote and said that when she was praying with someone earlier in the morning, he had shared that same quote with her – a confirmation in her challenging situation. I was in awe that God works in such incredible, seemingly insignificant ways and thankful that on those two occasions I had listened to the holy nudge. 

I wonder how many times the invisible, yet very real and tangible Holy Spirit, comes alongside each of us, nudging us to pay attention to something – or more importantly to someone. How many times do we either fail to hear that small still voice or ignore it altogether? It’s so easy to think these types of nudges are just passing thoughts so we become too busy without ever taking action. I wonder how many people miss out on that special blessing that God has designed to come from us to them? A sobering thought. Oswald Chambers in His Utmost for His Highest reminds us, “Your part is to be so rightly related to God that His discernment comes through you all the time for the blessing of another soul.” 

I know I’m certainly guilty of ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit on too many occasions, letting the noise around me drown it out. But think about it... throughout the day the God of the universe is inviting us to join Him in His redemptive work and He’s trying to get our attention with the holy nudge. Webster’s defines nudge as “to push gently with the elbow especially to get someone’s attention.” You might call it a prompting or a leading, but it clearly is “not from you.” It’s God speaking to us through His Spirit. This kind of nudge eventually grows as time goes on and there is often a sense of intense spiritual heaviness that God is pushing you to do something.

The nudge often comes ever so gently. Something is pricking your spirit. It’s God’s way of elbowing you to get your attention. It’s Him saying, “Hey, I want you to do something for me; I want you to join me in working in a mighty way.” Someone needs to be contacted. The phone call needs to be made, a card needs to be sent, or you need to stop and pray for a certain person – simple reminders that can all-too-easily be dismissed. We need only pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s nudge and as we act on it, God’s business is performed through us and because of us. But the choice is ours – will we respond or will we ignore it and go about our day? It’s so easy to shrug off the nudge, isn’t it? Oswald Chambers says, “If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter.

”When you think about it, isn’t it wonderful that the Christian life is full of holy nudges? Nudges that provide amazing opportunities for us to work in tandum with Christ to change the lives He places in our paths. 1 John 4:13 reminds us, “And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us” (NLT). Think about it – the God, the Creator of the universe, lives in us! And the Holy Spirit is so much more in tune than what we see or know or understand. I love that He comes alongside us and enables us to see and hear and pay attention to things we might never pay attention to – His world and His people. What would happen if we said “yes” to just one of the Holy Spirit’s nudges this week – how might the week and our world change? Saying yes to the holy nudge is the start and just might not only change the world, but someone’s life forever!