On Sunday, May 19, we celebrate Pentecost. While originally a Jewish feast day, Christians celebrate Jesus sending the promised Holy Spirit to his followers on Pentecost. Jesus said in John 16:7, “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 go, I will send him to you.”
Acts 2:38 says that the Holy Spirit will be given to us when we repent in the name of Jesus. I am extremely grateful that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit because I count on Him for direction and counsel.
Sometimes, when I am writing a Bible Study lecture or blog post, or talking to someone about God, I know my words are from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes even when the words are “mine”, I think “Wow, I didn’t know I thought that!” He gives insight and teaches the way of truth.
Sometimes the Spirit helps by redirecting my thoughts and attitudes. This happened to me recently, and I was so appreciative to be set straight by Him.
I was really going through something! A situation at my work as a therapist arose that turned out to be 98 days of waiting for an answer. There was an administrative glitch with my primary payer, and I didn’t receive payment for over three months. As a result my clients were also left in limbo. At first I told my clients,
“Don’t worry, we will get this fixed…”
“within the week”,
“within 2 weeks”,
but then it became
“I don’t really know how long it will take!”
At first I prayed expectantly and thought the situation would sort itself out quickly. As time went on, I found myself more and more frustrated and then more and more discouraged. It began to affect my attitude – about work, about home, really toward everything. I was feeling completely disheartened. I found myself short tempered and teary about little annoyances. It became this overarching web of negativity laying over my life.
Many of us pull away when things aren’t going well, when what we actually need is to lean into God. I learned this one morning while I was spending time with God and I felt the Holy Spirit reveal something to me. The Spirit showed me that I was doing EXACTLY what Adam and Eve did.
Their sin wasn’t about eating an apple. It was about doubting the goodness of God. Instead of seeing all the blessings God had given them, they focused on the one thing they could not have. They convinced themselves that God was withholding from them. They believed that the forbidden fruit in the garden was good and that God wouldn’t let them partake of it because he wasn’t willing to give them this good thing..
The Holy Spirit showed me that I was doing the same thing. I had fallen into the trap of believing that God wasn’t giving me the good thing I wanted. I had unconsciously linked God giving me this gift to His love for me. I had been feeling like God didn’t love me. I knew this wasn’t true but it didn’t feel that way. I didn’t even realize this was my attitude but when the Spirit showed me, I saw the truth. I was guilty of thinking “If He loved me, He would do this for me.” This was a complete revelation to me. I had not realized that I had gotten so far off course, but I was guilty as charged. I wasn’t trusting His goodness. I wasn’t trusting His timing. (Again, this was all subconscious.) I forgot that God always has my good and His glory in mind. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit prompted me on this so that I could confess my sin and be restored to sweet communion with God.
The Holy Spirit, our trusted guide, exposed the lies that I had begun to believe. John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” This is one of the ways the Holy Spirit works in the life of the believer and I am so grateful for his correction and guidance.
I encourage you to take a few moments right now and listen. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you have strayed off course. Maybe you haven’t doubted God’s goodness, maybe you haven’t forgotten His love, but perhaps you’ve gone off the path in a different way. Give Him a few minutes of silence to hear Him speak and then act on what He shows you.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit!
ABOUT OUR BLOGGER
Bonnie Kotler and her husband Mitch have two daughters, three sons, seven grandchildren and three grand-puppies. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years before re-entering the workforce after receiving her M.S. in Counseling and Human Relations from Villanova University. She is a licensed professional counselor at The Peacemaker Center and her own private practice, True North Counseling. Bonnie has been on the Willowdale women’s ministry teaching team since 2012. Bible studies have played a key role in her walk as a believer, and in turn, she loves to help other women find their peace with God and grow in their faith. She enjoys writing Bible study materials, reading fiction, spending time with family and doing anything in the sunshine. Bonnie loves to laugh and considers laughter as the best medicine. Psalm 126:2