In my reading this week I came across an excerpt out of No Little People (a collection of sermons by Francis Schaeffer). Here is what Schaeffer wrote:
"Both the Scriptures and the history of the church teach that if the Holy Spirit is working, the whole man will be involved and there will be much cost to the Christian. The more the Holy Spirit works, the more Christians will be used in battle, and the more they are used, the more there will be personal cost and tiredness. It is quite the opposite of what we might first think. People often cry out for the work of the Holy Spirit and forget that when the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God, weariness and tears and battles."
This seems to ring true in my life and in the lives of those I know who are actively praying to live and move and have our being in Him, to be directed by the Holy Spirit. When this is your bent in life it will come at a personal cost.
You will be tired....do you have the discipline to make time to rest and rejuvenate?
Spiritual warfare will come at an intense pace....do you have the eyes to see it and the companions to battle it?
Weariness and tears and battles will ensue daily....do you have the perseverance and support of community to endure?
Schaeffer is right, this seems very counter intuitive for our simulated fabrications of how the Holy Spirit moves. We often see the Holy Spirit like the ice-cream man who only brings good things for us to experience and eat and ride the sugar high.
And most people will limit the moving of the holy spirit to an event, an hour of produced emotional manipulation that the programmers have conjured up, so we can willingly offer ourselves to the experience. And if we feel the tinge of emotional up-rise internally, like a good story will naturally cause, we say wow, the holy spirit was really moving this hour, I could feel him.
But maybe, just maybe the scriptures are right and we are wrong about how the Holy Spirit moves. Schaeffer's insight to the scriptures and the history of the church are sobering. When the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God....weariness....and tears....and battles. So let's not mistake the emotional high of a weekend experience that was crafted to give us the high we seek, with the true working of the Holy Spirit.
If you are crying out for the Holy Spirit to move in your life and in the lives of those around you and it seems that things are not going smooth, you are getting weary and life is difficult, don't be surprised. When you pray for the Holy Spirit to move, life is not lived beyond the fray but rather it is lived right in the middle. Offer your praise to God and get real with your faith community and go to battle, because whenever the Holy Spirit moves the enemy will be there.
Recent Comments