The flowing of this stream of the Holy Spirit is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. It is similar to the circulation of the blood in our physical bodies. The blood is flowing all the time from one part to another and then back again. In just such a way is the stream of the Holy Spirit as the fellowship of the Body flowing among the saints upon this earth.
It is quite clear to me that in these days the flowing of the divine stream is toward the Western world. This flowing to the West is something of the fellowship of the Body of Christ. It started from the throne of the exalted Lamb and has been flowing through all generations to this present time. It has been flowing through many regions and nations, and now it has turned to the Western world. This is the stream of the fellowship of the Body, the stream of the testimony of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ, and the stream of the work of the Holy Spirit.
When I was young, Brother Nee came one day to have a talk with me. I was a young learner under his hand, and many times he gave me some basic lessons. He said, "Brother, do you know that we can never go to any place to start a work unless the current of the Holy Spirit is there already?" Oh, how I have remembered this word! Unless the current of the Holy Spirit is already in a place, you and I can never go there to work. Brother Nee continued to say: "Oh, brother, if you realize where the current of the Holy Spirit is, simply go along with it! To work there for the Lord will be a rest to you; it will be a bed upon which you can lie. The work in the flowing of the Holy Spirit is not a burden, but a rest." I cannot tell you how much these words have helped me. From that time I have learned the lesson that I must go along with the flowing of the stream of the Holy Spirit. I cannot go to any place to work for the Lord or to start a work for the Lord without the flowing of the current of the Holy Spirit. I am unable to do that, I am not qualified to do that, and I am not ordered by the Lord to do that. What I must do is just go along with the flowing.
Let me give you a further personal word. I had no intention of coming to the United States, but the flowing of the Holy Spirit carried me here. I could not help it. Furthermore, my intention was that I would soon return to the Far East. But the flowing is still Westward, and I could not return. My direction was Eastward, but the flowing of the Spirit was Westward. All I can do is simply be carried along by this flow. How wonderful to be in this stream! Oh, here is the life, here is the fellowship, here is the testimony, and here is the work of God!
(The Divine Stream, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)