There are times when the presence of God’s Spirit is so profound that what we had planned to do for the Lord cannot be accomplished. It’s sad to imagine attending a church or conference where the Spirit has not been allowed to interrupt our plans and ask us to wait in the manifest presence of God. When this happens, we will not be able to sing our next worship song or complete a prepared sermon.

Something notable took place when Solomon brought the Ark into the Temple. “When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord” (vs. 10-11). That moment reminds me of what happened on the Day of Pentecost.

In the New Covenant, the Temple is our lives, not a building. We are the place where God reveals Himself. This revelation is not a solo event. When we gather together in His name, the Lord will reveal Himself corporately in powerful ways if we make room for Him at the expense of what we had planned.

The problem with highly produced and executed gatherings is that when the Spirit does begin to make his presence known, we can choose instead to follow the plans we made for our gathering at the expense of allowing God to lead us into something new and beautiful that was not part of our original plan.

A wise leader who is sensitive to the voice of God’s Spirit will follow the Spirit’s direction, even if it contradicts his original plan. When this kind of leader senses that the Spirit is doing something new, they will not continue with their original plan, because the glorious presence of the Lord wants to fill our temples in a new way. They would never do anything to stop the Spirit from making himself known, even if it means some will walk away feeling more comfortable with a plan than an unexpected move of God’s Spirit.