Sometimes God's Plan Seems Counter Intuitive

Check this out.

John 16:5-7(NKJV)

5“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 

6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 

7Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

Now this is Jesus speaking in the book of John.  Think about what He is saying.  It is to our advantage that Jesus go.  Seems counter intuitive to me.  But why does Jesus say it is to our advantage?  Because if Jesus doesn't go, then He can't send the Holy Spirit to us.

Huh?  Who would you rather have right there by your side?  Jesus or the Holy Spirit.  Being the Son of God and all, I don't know about you but my inclination would be to pick Jesus.  That just seems like common sense to me.  How about you?

But Jesus says, nope, you are looking at this all wrong.  This other guy over here, the Holy Spirit, is going to be way more valuable to you in your daily lives.  Wow, that's quite a statement on Jesus' part. 

Jesus even goes on to explain why.

John 16:7-11(NKJV)

7Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

8And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 

9of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 

10of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 

11of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I've got to admit I don't much out of this part but look at the next section.
 

John 16:12-13(NKJV)

12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 

13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 

There we go.  He, the Holy Spirit, will guide us to truth.  He will also tell us of things to come which helps explain this verse that I found in Proverbs a while back.
 

Proverbs 27:12(NKJV)

12    A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;      The simple pass on and are punished.

But there is one other very valuable thing that we learn here.  Sometimes people ask, how do I really know if it is the Holy Spirit guiding me vs. Satan trying to deceive me?

That's a great question.  Fortunately Jesus gave us the litmus test.  Here it is.

John 16:14(NKJV)

14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 

If there is ever any doubt just ask yourself, is Jesus being glorified by the Spirit giving me direction?  If Jesus is being glorified I'd say you are good to go.  If not then I think that gives us an answer as well.