Does It Matter?

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”—John 14:26

How much does God’s Spirit influence and direct your life? How much does He influence your day-to-day decision-making? God gave His Holy Spirit to dwell in us—to implant the life of the Son of God in us, and then teach or grow the Son in us by teaching us the meaning of Jesus’ words, as well as to bear witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). The Holy Spirit is not an it, but a Him. He is a Person, not a “thing.” He refers to Himself as “I” (Acts 13:2), has intelligence (1 Corinthians 2:10), knowledge (1 Corinthians 2:11), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), has a will (Acts 16:6), and can love (Romans 15:30). We have a great deal of love for the Son and the Father, but the Holy Spirit of God is ignored, as if he were the strange relative we know, but don’t understand how to deal with, so we keep them at a distance.

I read a quote this past week that really convicted me. It is from the book, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, by Colin Duriez. Francis Schaeffer was one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the 20th century. He was an apologist (a defender of the faith), and an evangelist to intellectuals. One morning, while at breakfast with his wife Edith, he said,

“’Supposing we had awakened today to find everything concerning the Holy Spirit and prayer removed from the Bible—that is, not removed the way liberals would remove it, but that God had somehow really removed everything about prayer and the Holy Spirit from the Bible. What difference would it make practically between the way we work yesterday and the way we would work today, and tomorrow? What difference would it make practically between the way we work yesterday and the way we would work today, and tomorrow? What difference would it make in the majority of Christians’ practical work and plans? Aren’t most plans laid out ahead of time? Isn’t much work done by human talent, energy and clever ideas? Where does the supernatural power of God have a real place?’ Challenged by this, we began to think and look over our own lives and work…and, we asked God to give us something more real in our work of the future.’”—Colin Duriez, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, p. 124-125.

Schaeffer articulated something that I believe many of us feel—the Holy Spirit has no apparent place in our lives. We do what we do on our own, and rarely, if ever, ask for God’s help to guide and direct us in the midst of life’s decisions. If we were to be honest with ourselves and take Schaeffer’s observation to heart, how different would our lives be? If we were to wake up tomorrow morning and find that the Holy Spirit and prayer were removed from the Bible, would our lives be any different?

I pray that if Schaeffer’s hypothesis were to ever occur, we would be devastated. And I hope and pray that we might find ourselves more in communion with the risen Christ. I hope prayer might be our oxygen tank as we go deeper into the world. We need prayer. It is our only hope of survival in a world at war with God. Without prayer and God’s Spirit to empower, guide, fill, and grow the life of the Son of God within us, we would be dead, lost, and directionless—sailboats without sails and without wind.

May we learn what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God and to walk according to the Spirit of God in such a way that the Son of God is grown up within us and can be seen in our everyday interactions. May the life of the Son of God become so manifest within us that God receives glory. May His name radiate through our lives as we commune with Him, and may our communion enable us to be courageous as we see God’s supremacy spread to all nations for the glory, honor, and praise of His awesome and holy name. Amen.