Engaging the Holy Spirit [A New Series]

Photo Credit: eflon via Compfight cc

I sat in my car, fingers clenched around the steering wheel, willing myself to let go and walk inside. A battle being waged in my mind. “I can’t do this. I’m not qualified. They’re going to think I’m nuts, a phony.” “Yes, you can do this. Just trust in God. He got you this far and this clearly is something He wants to do. Don’t you think He can equip you?” “But, I don’t feel very equipped. How am I going to lead this meeting, lead the prayer, with these women who are so much better at this than me?” “Just go in and have faith!”

I had begun to hear a call on my life and the first step the Holy Spirit made clear was I should lead a women’s conference at my church. He gave me detailed ideas for the theme, opened doors to give me the opportunity and pulled together a team of amazing women to help. Now the task at hand was to walk into our first planning meeting, explain the vision and get the team started.

This was the beginning of my journey with the Holy Spirit. Actively engaging with the Holy Spirit, listening for His guidance, being obedient and trusting in His direction and allowing Him to work through me.

Eventually, I did get out of the car and go inside. As I sat with trembling knees and shaky voice, I opened our meeting with prayer and then explained the vision. To my great surprise, they loved it and agreed to join the planning team. Every step of planning that conference was an exercise in trust and obedience to the Holy Spirit. I was far outside my comfort zone, yet I had been prepared for this role in many ways.

In these next four weeks leading to Pentecost – these weeks where the disciples were spending their final moments with the resurrected Jesus, beginning to finally understand what it all meant and preparing for the arrival of the Holy Spirit – I’ll be writing about the work of the Holy Spirit through posts and devotionals. I’ll share more of this story behind the conference and how the Holy Spirit was at work in me every step of the way.

The Holy Spirit is actively at work in my life, leading me closer to God’s better future for my life. I don’t know exactly what that future is yet, but I know God is calling me to do more with my life. The Holy Spirit is helping me get there by guiding me, prompting me, encouraging me, pushing me forward, equipping me and teaching me.

Learning to listen to and follow the Holy Spirit is an exercise in obedience and trust. He’s taking me to places outside my comfort zone, to the growing edges of my life. Sometimes places I didn’t want to go, but am glad I went when I look back on what I learned from the experience.

Over the next weeks, we’ll look at topics such as:

– Inviting the Holy Spirit to begin working within us
– How to listen for the Holy Spirit
– What it means to obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit
– How obedience is linked to trust
– How the Holy Spirit equips us, even when we don’t feel qualified
– What impact we can have in the world when we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit

Please join me over the next month for this in-depth look at how the Holy Spirit works within our lives. I hope through this series you’ll find a renewed or deeper engagement with the Holy Spirit, too.

Click HERE for other posts in this series.

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Linking with: UNITE, Titus 2 Tuesday, Titus 2sDay, Wednesday Prayer Girls, Coffee for your Heart