Don’t Be a Mule: How to Get Sensitive to God’s Leading

Are you the kind of believer God has to drag into His will?

You know what I mean. You feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit and you fight it. You sense He’s leading you somewhere and you dig in your heels. You demand a burning bush before you’ll move an inch. If that’s you, the Bible has a name for it — and it’s not flattering. But I’ve got good news. You don’t have to stay that way.

God isn’t looking for a stubborn animal — He’s looking for a sensitive son.

We’re getting deeper into practical application this week.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 NKJV

Let me put this plainly. God wants to lead you. He’s not playing hide and seek. He’s not making it impossible. He gave you His Spirit specifically so He could lead you.

But there’s a difference between being a son who is sensitive to His Father’s leading and being an animal that has to be forced into compliance. Today we’re going to look at both — and you’re going to have to decide which one you want to be.

God promises to guide you with His eye.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

Psalm 32:8 NKJV

That phrase “guide you with My eye” is one of the most beautiful pictures in Scripture. Let me tell you what it reminded me of.

When I was a kid, I had a quarter horse named Bae. He was a cutting horse, used to working cattle before I ever owned him. Bae was so well trained that I could literally just turn my head and look in a direction, and he would turn and look the same way. Just the subtle shift of my weight told him what to do.

He was so sensitive that a couple of times my body sent him a signal my head wasn’t aware of, and Bae and I parted company in the air. I ended up flat on my backside because I wasn’t paying attention to the signals my own body was sending him.

That’s the level of sensitivity God is calling you into. So locked in to your Father that the slightest turn of His head, the slightest shift of His leading, and you’re already moving with Him.

The very next verse warns you about being a mule.

Now read what comes immediately after.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.

Psalm 32:9 NKJV

There’s God’s plan. He wants to guide you with His eye. But if you’re a mule, He has to harness you with a bit and a bridle and drag you into His will.

I don’t want that. You don’t want that.

I’ll be straight with you — I used to be muish. When the Lord first started dealing with me about starting a church, I told Him, “The only way I’ll ever do that is if You speak to me through a burning bush.” Later I upgraded my excuse to, “Only if You catch me up to the third heaven and it’s me, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit having a meeting — and even then I’m not sure I’ll agree.”

That’s a mule talking. And Scripture says a mule has no understanding.

A mule doesn’t understand how much its Master loves it.

So why is a mule a mule? Why does someone refuse to move until God forces them?

It’s because they don’t really understand His love.

Think about it this way. If my friend Jeff said, “Get in the car, I want to take you somewhere — but I’m not telling you where,” I’d probably get in the car. Why? Because I trust Jeff. I know him. I know if he’s not telling me, it’s probably because he’s planning a blessing or pulling a friendly prank.

But imagine if I responded, “I’m not getting in the car until you tell me exactly where we’re going, why we’re going, what time we’ll be back, and what’s in it for me.” That would be mulish. It would mean I have no understanding of Jeff’s love for me.

That’s exactly how we treat God. He’s trying to take us somewhere He’s already prepared to bless us — and we’re standing in the driveway demanding details.

Disobedience has a cost. Sometimes a tragic one.

Let me be transparent about something I’m not proud of.

Years ago I had a friend named Don who was struggling. The Lord told me clearly, “I want you to call Don.” He even told me exactly what to say. I said, “Yes, Lord, I will.” Then I got busy and forgot.

He told me again. I said yes. Forgot again.

Two or three times He brought it up. Each time I meant to obey. Each time I let it slip. I wasn’t seeking Him with my whole heart. I was distracted.

Then one day I was on the lake water-biking with a friend. As we were pulling up to the dock, I suddenly remembered. I said, “Lord, I never did call him. I’m sorry. I’ll call him as soon as I get back.”

The Lord said, “Never mind. He’s dead.”

I pulled up to the dock and a family member was already coming down to tell me Don had died. I went to his wife afterward and apologized. I told her what God had asked me to tell him. She said, “That was exactly what he was struggling with.”

I’m not telling you this to wound myself. I’m telling you so you’ll take this seriously. Disobedience to a small nudge from God can have very real consequences — for you and for someone else.

Sensitivity grows when you stop resisting.

People say, “Pastor Kurt, that sounds nice, but I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake.”

Listen, darlin’. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to bump your head and your backside a few times along the way. That’s part of being a son who’s still growing up.

But God has a fail-safe for you when your heart is set on following Him — and we’re going to get to that. For now, what you need to grasp is this: the people who hear God clearly aren’t the ones who never made mistakes. They’re the ones who quit being mules.

Coffee snobs are a great example of growing sensitivity. I drink coffee — I don’t enjoy it. It’s a caffeine delivery system to me. But there are people who can taste a sip and tell you it was picked on the southern slope of a mountain in Colombia on the 13th of November. They didn’t have that level of taste on day one. They got there because they loved it, kept tasting, and got more sensitive over time.

Your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit grows the same way. You stop demanding burning bushes. You start moving the moment you sense Him. And every time you obey, your spiritual taste buds get a little sharper.

Make up your mind today — no more mule.

Quit being hard-headed. Quit being hard to turn. Quit waiting for God to drag you into His will.

The next time you sense the Lord nudging you, even if you only suspect it’s Him, run with it. Move. Obey. Get sensitive. Become the kind of son He can guide with the turn of His eye, not the pull of a bridle.

Drop the mule. Get sensitive to His leading. Fight To Win.