The Comfort of the Holy Spirit

When I started writing these devotionals, I began with the first lesson God taught me, which was that He was my Father. I desperately needed a good father in my life, and that’s how God opened the door for us to have this relationship together. The second devotional I wrote was about how I came to know God more fully by realizing that Jesus is King of my life. It’s His will that governs my decisions. After writing both of those, I realized that I still had one more person of the Godhead who I didn’t really know, the Holy Spirit. This became my prayer: Holy Spirit reveal Yourself to me. He did and still is.

This progression in my faith walk is natural. People start to believe that there’s a Creator God out there. Then they discover He can be personally known as their Father. Next, they learn how He wrapped Himself in humanness and decide to be subservient to Jesus. When we decided to follow Jesus, He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist says such in John 1:33. “I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” When I was a child, it was popular to ask Jesus to come into your heart. The meaning behind it was to align yourself with Christ, which isn’t bad. But it’s not the person of Jesus who abides within us, but His Spirit, which is the person of the Holy Spirit. 

In order for Christians to look different from the world around them, they have to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. If fact, it was so necessary that it was a part of the great commission in Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” On the day of Pentecost, this power was made manifest by the speaking of other languages, but that was only the spark.

It was the Holy Spirit who rested on David to slay Goliath. In 1 Samuel 16:13, Samuel anoints David and it says, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward…” It’s also noted that it’s the Holy Spirit who compelled Peter to confront the high priest and rulers of Jerusalem (Acts 4:8). And it was by the Holy Spirit’s working in the apostles that they performed miracles of healing in Jesus’ name. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will work miracles through me and you. He gives us His peace and joy no matter the trial formed against us.

In the past few months, I’ve been humbled by the love and comfort of the Holy Spirit. When I lost my grandma, I lost one of my closest friends. One night in my weeping, I cried out to God, not even knowing what I needed. I felt so alone. I trusted Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” The next day, my phone was blowing up with people checking up on me and my sisters-in-law came to take me for a night out. Amidst the hugs, I realized how surrounded I still was. I was not alone. The Holy Spirit moved the community around me to shelter me in the storm of grief. 

Shortly after that, we were dealt a financial blow. To fight off the anxiety trying to overwhelm, I reminded myself that when my husband lost his job in the past, we were never left wanting. God had taken care of all our needs mostly through the moving of the people within our community of believers. Multiple times we would receive random anonymous donations in the mail. Yet my doubting heart said that we don’t know anyone here so we won’t receive gifts in the mail again. The next day, my father-in-law called us over. He had gotten a piece of mail addressed to us. In it were a letter and a check from someone we personally had never met for a greater sum than we had ever received in the past. The Holy Spirit listened to my prayer and healed my doubt. 

A few weeks later, my husband and I faced a myriad of life disappointments all pretty much in the same day. The next day, to process all I was feeling, I picked up a little book by Derek Prince titled God’s Remedy for Rejection. The book highlights areas of one’s past when he or she has been afflicted by rejection. Then it invites us to claim Christ’s acceptance. Christ came on our behalf to bear our sins, shame, regrets, betrayals, and rejections on the Cross. Jesus was rejected by God so that we can be accepted by Him. He overcame them by rising again. I prayed along with the prayers in the book. But even as I said, “I am accepted by God,” my heart doubted this. 

I prayed, “Holy Spirit, I choose to believe I’m accepted by you, but there’s doubt in my heart. Can you change that doubt, and give me a reassurance of your personal love?”

I didn’t think I needed the reassurance. I had had a lot of reassurance in the recent past. But God knew differently. I needed to be strengthened more. The next day I was at our church for a small group. Currently, we attend a mega church. The normal congregation is larger than the population of my hometown. After my group met, I took my four girls with me into the bathroom. My toddlers were crawling out from under my stall and my other kids were egging them on. As I was helping them dry their hands, a little old lady commented on my adorable collection of girls. As this is a common occurrence, I didn’t think much of it, but she stopped me. 

“You know what a blessing you hold in our hands, don’t you?” 

I smiled and let the moment sink in, remembering the miracles God has worked for each one of them. “Yes, they really are. My twins were given to me after my miscarriage and had complications in pregnancy, yet here they are full of life.”

She listened politely and introduced herself as Betty Jackson, the mother of our church’s pastor. Then offered to pray for me. 

After my moment of shock, that this woman who was responsible for raising a man who’s led countless people to Christ, would pause to notice me of all people, I nodded. “Please do.”

She listened to the prompt of the Holy Spirit to stop me and remind me that I truly am seen and loved by the Creator of the Universe. 

The Holy Spirit comforts us in our grief. He intercedes the prayers of our hearts. He moves among believers, and it’s through His power we can overcome the dark and evil in this world. When we pray and ask Jesus to baptize us in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will indwell us. There He works to transform us step by step into the masterpiece that God purposed for us to be.

As I’ve waited for the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself, I’ve been regularly fasting. Daily I read or listen to Scripture. I pray moment by moment as needed. I have sought God with my whole heart, and I’ve watched the promise of Jeremiah 29:13 come true. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” 

“Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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